Signal Festival Will Light Up Petřín Tower

Signal Festival will not take place this autumn after all. The organizers were forced to cancel the event last week in response to the new coronavirus restrictions.

Despite that, the eighth year of the festival of digital and creative culture will be launched – at least symbolically. Today, October 15 at 7 p.m., which was the intended opening time of the festival, the visual artist Kryštof Kintera will light up the Petřín Lookout Tower.

The Lighthouse installation symbolizes hope for Czech culture. In this way, the festival will conclude the week of activities called Lighthouses of Czech Culture

The people of Prague could see The Lighthouse installation for the first time in 2013 in the very first year of Signal Festival. It represents a memory of the harsh beginnings as well as the support of Czech culture. The Lighthouse is a confident expression, a vision of the future and joy in the hard times experienced by the cultural scene.

By lighting up the lookout tower on the Petřín Hill, Signal Festival organizers will join the activities of Lighthouses of Czech Culture and #majakprokulturu which have been lighting up since Monday throughout the whole country in the places where concerts, film screenings, exhibition openings or theatre performances would have taken place were it not for the pandemic.

The imaginary launch of Signal Festival on Thursday is also the conclusion of the week-long activity Lighthouses of Czech Culture organized by the Jatka 78 theatre.   

“The lighthouse symbolizes protection and security. The light that shines out of darkness. The hope that we all need so much right now. We are looking for a way to bring some joy to people’s lives. Right now, the cultural scene has been receiving one blow after another. We must support it; we must keep on creating. The lighthouse is immensely significant for us. It was present at the very beginning of the first Signal Festival in 2013 and it is back again. Something like a Blaník knight, I would say,” says Signal Festival director Martin Pošta.