There will be no New Year’s fireworks and neither a videomapping show in Prague, Mayor Zdeněk Hřib announced today. The city’s authorities decided to not go ahead with traditional January 1 municipal events in view of the Covid situation. “We did not plan any fireworks this year either, but we were considering alternative ways to welcome the new year. We were waiting for the epidemic situation and anti-epidemic measures to develop. Given the current situation, we abandoned the planned activities,” Hofman said. Due to the current epidemic situation and the measures in force, the municipality does not plan any other New Year’s Eve. “We would not be able to guarantee the safety of visitors at such an event with regard to the transmission of the disease, and it would be difficult to ensure the spectators’ distances,” City Hall spokesperson Vít Hofman told the Czech News. In the past, Prague city traditionally welcomed the new year on January 1 with fireworks, which from January 1, 2020, have been replaced with a videomapping show, which, according to the city management, does not have negative consequences, such as noise and stress for animals. Among other reasons, last year the city wanted to save...
To commemorate ten years since the death of President Václav Havel, an event “10 years without V.H.” will be organized in Prague on December 18th. Václav Havel’s public engagement began in the 1960s. During the Prague Spring of 1968, he argued that reforming the Communist Party and its style of government was not enough. Instead of mere democratization, he wanted true democracy. However, all such hopes were dashed by the Soviet-led invasion and subsequent occupation. Havel became a leading figure in the Czechoslovak dissident movement. One of the co-authors of the Charter 77 declaration, around which the most influential human rights organization formed. He was no longer spared a prison sentence – Havel was convicted in 1979 and not released from prison until 1983. He was arrested again and sentenced in 1989 but spent only a few months in prison. In that same seminal year, there would be a major change not just in his life but in Czechoslovak society. Communism is toppled in the Velvet Revolution, and Václav Havel becomes president of a newly democratic country. He will also go down in history as the last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic. Program The...
In the upper part of Wenceslas Square, Christmas markets continue despite the government ban. The Prague 1 office authorized them as a “cultural event”, said Petr Bidlo, a spokesman for the city district, adding that “according to the organizers, all necessary anti-epidemic measures were observed”. “The Office has approved the markets as a cultural event, and therefore they take place under that regime,” Bidlo said on Monday. According to the organizers, drinks and food are served only for take away and the staff warns visitors that they should not consume them on the spot. “I fully understand the seriousness of the situation, I myself comply with all anti-pandemic measures and I ask all citizens to do the same. However, I consider the ban on Christmas markets to be huge nonsense. Farmers’ markets, for example, can continue to operate,” Hejma wrote on Facebook Mayor Hřib said on Monday that the city can influence sales only through a special decree. It determines where and what can be sold in public places in Prague. According to that, only the lower part of Wenceslas square is explicitly mentioned as a place for Christmas markets. “Even in an emergency, the mayor does not have the...
Researchers from the Research Institute of Plant Production and other organizations, together with the Transport Company of the Capital City (DPP), are testing new grass mixtures which they hope will be resistant to extreme weather conditions. The main goal is to find a perfect mixture that will be less demanding on maintenance and water consumption. DPP costs irrigation of grassed lines, with an area of 111,000 square meters, about 1.5 million CZK a year, said DPP board member and technical director Jan Šurovský. “If the joint research project succeeded in testing and developing grass mixtures that are truly resistant to extreme conditions, especially drought, this would not only mean a significant reduction in water consumption and maintenance costs for us but would ultimately meet 100 percent all urban and environmental properties that are expected of them,” said Šurovský. According to project coordinator Vojtěch Holubec, grasses, clover and other plants used in green carpets in Bělohorská Street come from hardy plants that researchers have collected at extreme locations in the Czech Republic. At the Drinopol and U Kaštanu tram stops, scientists will test carpet variants for both sunny and shady habitats. According to Šurovský, there are about 16 kilometers of tram...
Antonie, Bluestar, Ballerina or Laura. These are the name of domestic potato varieties. And it is with them that a new restaurant concept has been born. Brambory (Potatoes), yes this is the name (blunt and to the point, we like it), is being opened by the gastronomic group Together in Pankrác, Prague. And yes, potatoes will obviously play a major role in it. Chef Lukáš Soukup and his team want to show that these traditional vegetables don’t have to be just a boring side dish – or that they don’t have to be a side dish at all. The Together Group stands for companies such as the Vinohrady Parliament, Sia, Bruxx or Cukrář Skála, and since November you will also find it close to the Arkády shopping center in Pankrác. Brambory will serve dishes supplemented with potato varieties from around the world. Do you like potatoes like fries, patatas bravas, tortillas, in soup, with squid, or even ceviche? All this will be possible here. But of course, also in the classic potato salad, mash, or croquettes. “The more we became interested in the details about the potatoes, we found it interesting to show that the potato is not just a...
Wine lovers rejoice! The LÁHVE store in Prague is expanding the geography of its assortment: Spain now joins France, Italy, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. The added location means customers have access to 36 brands of Spanish wines (11 white and 25 red). LÁHVE remained faithful to its concept – to offer customers high-quality wines from the middle price segment. An illustrative example: to select the 36 brands, the store formed a tasting committee which evaluated 120 samples from Spanish winemakers. Only 30% of the submissions were lucky enough to hit the shelves. The tasting committee consisted of five people — two professional sommeliers and three wine connoisseurs with many years of experience. All employees of the store also participated in the tasting in order to have a personal idea of the wines sold. – the tasting committee consisted of five people – two professional sommeliers and three wine connoisseurs with many years of experience. All employees of the store also participated in the tasting in order to have a personal idea of the wines sold; – wines were tested in ascending order of value; – at the first stage, the samples were evaluated according to three key parameters:...
Thousands rallied in Prague on Sunday to protest the government’s restrictive measures to tackle a record surge of coronavirus infections. The protesters included members and supporters of a number of fringe political parties and groups that failed to win any parliamentary seats in October’s election. It was their third protest in the last two weeks. The participants didn’t wear face coverings or follow social distancing rules and drank beer despite a ban on drinking alcohol in public. At Letna park, the protesters chanted “Freedom!” and “We’ve had enough!” while displaying banners that discouraged getting vaccinated such as ones reading “My body my choice.” Police didn’t intervene. The Czech Republic has been setting repeated records in new daily infections, hitting a record high of almost 28,000 cases on Thursday. The infection rate was at 1,191 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days. Overall, the Czech Republic has registered over 2.1 million cases with 32,837 COVID-related deaths. It has lower vaccination rates than many other EU nations. The government declared a 30-day state of emergency and imposed additional coronavirus restrictions Friday in its effort to tackle the surge. Among them, all Christmas markets across the country were banned and...
The outgoing Czech government has imposed a nationwide state of emergency aimed at countering the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. The state of emergency came into force on Friday and will be in place for thirty days. The government has also banned the operation of Christmas markets, with effect from November 26, with the exception of the sale of Christmas trees and carp. The markets on the Old Town Square and Náměstí Republiky were to be operated by Taiko. Other markets were prepared on a smaller scale on Mariánské náměstí, and organized directly by Prague City Hall. Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib called the government’s decision to cancel the Christmas markets “outrageous.” “The government’s decision to abolish the outdoor Christmas markets literally from day to day is outrageous for all operators and stallholders, who often bought the goods on credit. It is unbelievable that they had the stalls built and will now force them to demolish them again. The government must offer adequate financial compensation to all stallholders as soon as possible,” added Hřib. “Disrupting Christmas markets overnight is the pinnacle of ignorance. Shops remain open, outdoor stalls do not. It is necessary to realize that for many small businesses, holding markets is one...
The Czech online supermarket Rohlik has reached out to help small farmers and entrepreneurs who have been hit by the ban on Christmas markets On its Twitter account, the company opened the possibility for small sellers or farmers to contact Rohlík and offer their goods directly through the online supermarket. Rohlik.cz said it would be able to start selling their products online within three days. “We want to help small producers and producers! For them, closing the Christmas markets can significantly reduce sales. The pandemic situation is serious, but we have a solution. We offer producers the opportunity to sell with us,” says Rohlík’s PR manager Denisa Morgensteinová. “People have the opportunity to join this initiative through an online form. We will contact them and then offer their products on our website and distribute it to people,” Morgenstein told iDNES.cz. According to Morgenstein, the assortment can include gift items, as well as food and drinks. “It is clear that we will not deliver a warm svařák (mulled wine) or crawfish. However, we are trying to come up with some solutions and include the classic products that are sold on the Christmas markets,” she adds. “We are trying to help farmers...
The National Museum in Prague opened a new permanent exhibition dedicated to prehistory on Nov. 24. Windows to prehistory display about two thousand artifacts, mainly in the field of paleontology, but also mineralogy. The exhibition is arranged chronologically. In the Proterozoic section, visitors will find a lot of trilobites and fossilized plants. Among the fossils is also cooksonia — a fossil of the oldest designated terrestrial vascular plant in the world, which the museum has had in its collections for more than a hundred years. It comes from the collections of Joachim Barrand and the specimen lived on Earth about 432 million years ago. It measures about six centimeters. This is followed by a walk through history to the Quaternary in the Czech lands, which will enliven the models of prehistoric animals, tell the story of the saber-toothed tiger, mammoth and cub. It will also introduce the only Czech dinosaur, Burianosaur. Showcases in black frames are part of a design that architect Renata Slámková helped create for the National Museum. The black moving rollers above the showcases will represent the terrain of the Czech landscape through lights and shadows. The luminous fibers play the ceiling of the exhibition hall to...
Having a roof over your head during the cold winter days and feeling safe should not be something one must prove to be worthy of. Everyone deserves to have a home, and everyone has the right to feel secure. Despite this, the UN-Habitat has found that a shocking 1.6 billion people live in inadequate housing conditions. What is worse, homelessness is becoming more and more prevalent as time goes on. Understanding how grave this is, cities and governments all over the globe are working on finding ways to help those who do not have access to housing. However, only a handful of them are succeeding in bringing about meaningful change. Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, Prague has increased its efforts to help homeless individuals. Last year, it built an integrated system of emergency housing solutions using EU funds. With this system, citizens who found themselves at risk of – or already in – a housing emergency could access support at one of the Contact Points for Housing in the city’s districts. There, depending on one’s situation, they could either obtain counselling, legal aid, or temporary housing. Also in 2020, Prague unveiled a crisis accommodation program, providing homeless citizens with...
Don’t have an account? Register
Already have an account? Log In
How Would You Like to Promote Your Business? PR ArticleDisplay bannersVideo productionNewsletter adsJob ListingsInfluencer Marketing
Your Email
We will come back to you within 24 hours with our proporsal
