On November 17, Prague will be part of the celebrations in public space. Compared to non-pandemic years, they will take place in a stricter regime
Following last year’s call for celebrations from home this year, the organizers invite you to a program taking place in important places associated with our modern history. This year, people in the capital can look forward to Národní třída transformed into an outdoor gallery space, a concert on Wenceslas Square, a masquerade procession Velvet Enlightenment, reverential events and much more.
The eighth annual Freedom Celebration on Národní třída, known as Korzo Národní, will offer a festively tuned street. It will be dominated by street exhibitions, lighting installations or projections on the facade of the May department store about contemporary Belarus. The program also produces around the interior of the Národní třída buildings and presents theater performances, talk shows, art and educational workshops and debates reflecting the topic of contemporary Belarus and the involvement of young people, and often also performs online broadcasts. “We have compiled the program on Národní třída so that visitors do not gather in large crowds and endanger each other. Thanks to the gallery concept, Korzo Národní will really live up to its name this year, because people will be able to ride at safe distances along the entire length of the street. At the same time, we come up with several options for celebrating the anniversary from a distance” explains Jan Hlaváček, director of Korzo Národní.
The main goal of most visitors, the pieta in the middle of Národní Street, is, as usual, done by the Sokol and Scout guards. For those who want to honor the memory of the November events, but cannot or for various reasons do not want to arrive directly at the place, the organizers of Korza Národní have prepared a so-called online pieta, following the example of last year. “Last year, due to the pandemic situation, we were looking for ways to bring people’s celebrations to their homes. An online pieta was created, where our volunteers put a candle with a message. Last year, more than 2,000 people lit a candle in this way from a distance, and we will be happy if the public uses online piety as a safe opportunity to commemorate the Velvet Revolution this year as well, ”he says. Jan Hlaváček.
As is traditional, the Prayer for Marta, sung by Jana Kirschner at the symbolic 17:11, will be heard throughout the Czech Republic on the national holiday. It will also be broadcast live on public television. At the same moment, a radio-original version of Prayer with the voice of Marta Kubišová is broadcast on the air, which will then sound amplions throughout Prague and other cities. At the same time, more than forty buildings throughout the Czech Republic turn the shades of the Czech tricolor. Many festivals and Czech universities, the Mahen Theater in Brno, the Měšťanská beseda Plzeň, the Moravian Theater in Olomouc, the Tomas Bata Memorial in Zlín, Hněvín Castle, the Miloš Sýkora Bridge in Ostrava and many other important buildings will receive a festive coat.
“After last year’s celebrations in the spirit of the motto ‘alone, but together’, we can meet again in the streets, but also at the paintings. To be able to do all this, it is crucial to be considerate and safe throughout the celebrations, and I believe that all citizens want this. Reminiscing the legacy and values of the Velvet Revolution is crucial and perhaps even more important in times of pandemic. That is why we are glad to be able to celebrate this year 17th again and to remember the basic values on which our company stands, ”Says the Concert for the Future and one of the founding members of the Freedom Festival platform, Jan Gregar.
As usual, Charles University is involved in the celebrations. The program will start with a memorial service at Hlávka dormitory at 9.00 am. It will be followed by a pieta in Žitná Street, and at noon a memorial service is being produced in Albertov. The events of November 17 are approaching various generations here, Professor Jozef Leikert and student associations will offer their memories to present their activities.
This year, for the tenth time, the Velvet Enlightenment, a satirical carnival procession that will begin on November 17 at 2 pm in a traditional parade in Kampa, will pass through the center of the capital. He will cross Charles Bridge to Národní třída, Staroměstské náměstí to the Hybernská Campus, where an afterparty will take place. The parade consists of artists, students, civic initiatives, associations and their clients. This year’s motto is Lots of midnightwhich refers to the night streets of Prague with the coming winter. In the past, they used to go through the night, protecting the village from fires and drunks from freezing.
The National Theater Awards will be presented at the National Theater. The ceremony will be broadcast live by Czech Television and Czech Radio. This year’s laureates are František Vaczula, who survived almost three years in communism in the PTP divisions, Lívia Herzová, a survivor from Auschwitz, Jarmila Stibicová, a signatory of Charter 77, arrested many times, humiliated, and never broken, and Jiří Lukšíček, a scout and former political prisoner, who spent six years in uranium camps in the 1950s.
The festive day will end with the Concert for the Future, which begins at 4.30 pm on Wenceslas Square. The program recalls the personality of Václav Havel and his legacy. Musical personalities such as Glen Hansard, Jana Kirschner, Aneta Langerová, Michal Hrůza and Uhlíř and Svěrák will perform. Among the speakers will be Šimon Pánek, Eva Holubová, Michael Kocáb, Eliška Křenková and Jakub Kalenský. Foreign personalities – Nury Turkel, a representative of the oppressed Uyghur community in China, or Tatiana Khomich, the sister of the Belarusian opposition leader, Maryja Kalesnikav, this year’s winner of the Václav Havel Human Rights Award, will also speak to the citizens. The program will also include happening A message for the future, every citizen will be able to send their personal commitment to the telephone number 720 011 017. The news will come back to him a year later.
The celebrations of the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution are also looking forward to supporting the capital city of Prague this year. “It simply came to our notice then. At the time of the pandemic, which for the second year has marked our lives, many have come across one new experience. It is now necessary to fight for a return to a free life a little differently than before – for example, through temporary modesty, respect for others and the cooperation of all of us. That is why I would like to call on all those who set out to celebrate freedom in person to lead by example, to comply with all security measures and to be considerate of themselves. ” says the mayor of the capital city of Prague Zdeněk Hřib.
“After more than thirty years, the coronavirus pandemic reminded us that personal freedom and freedom of artistic expression were not a matter of course for us before 89. I am very glad that we can all meet in person again this year and, while adhering to all anti-epidemic measures, safely enjoy street exhibitions, lighting installations, concerts and more, not only the Korza National cultural program and the Freedom Festival. Only by mutual consideration will we overcome this lack of freedom. ” comments on the program of this year’s celebrations of Prague for culture Hana Třeštíková.
Even in view of the deteriorating epidemic situation, the organizers of the freedom celebrations consider security a priority. According to the current measure of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, it is necessary to wear respiratory protection, favorable given conditions if there are more than 30 people in the place and it is not possible to keep a distance of 1.5 m from them. from other people. The National Avenue and Wenceslas Square will include elements drawing attention to valid security measures. Regular hand disinfection is also recommended. To enter the internal program, the organizers will check the so-called infectivity based on the ONT system (vaccination, test, covid disease).
The Korzo Národní program can be found on the website www.dikyzemuzem.cz.
You can find the program of the Freedom Festival on the web https://festivalsvobody.cz/.
Measures currently in force on https://covid.gov.cz.