Tourists are attracted to New Year’s Eve Prague with fewer restrictions, beer or romance
Updates: 31.12.2021 15:45
Released: 31.12.2021, 15:45
Prague – Cheap beer, romance or few anti-coronavirus restrictions are attracted to the capital on New Year’s Eve compared to other EU countries. This follows from the statements of tourists that ČTK addressed in Prague today. According to the city company Prague City Tourism, up to 60,000 of them could arrive, significantly less than before the pandemic.
According to Missel from Germany, anti-epidemic measures were just why why family and friends came to Prague. “We didn’t decide between another city and Prague. And we don’t drink, so it’s not about alcohol. It’s just close and there are less restrictions than elsewhere,” said the young Berliner.
For Missel’s compatriot Dennis and his friends, on the other hand, the only choice for Prague to spend New Year’s Eve celebrations is cheap alcohol, specifically beer and vodka. “We didn’t come here to drink water,” added the 18-year-old Dennis, who was just leaving the supermarket with two packs of drinking water. “It’s for continuous drinking during the evening, so that it doesn’t help you pump your stomach,” Dennis explained, adding that he wouldn’t want to experience the hospital in Prague.
Although people are likely to be less on the streets than in the years before the pandemic, paramedics are prepared for more injuries, alcohol poisoning or overdoses associated with New Year’s Eve celebrations. A temporary rescue tent is already being set up on Wenceslas Square.
For Martin and his partner from Dresden, Prague had a different meaning today, as they got engaged in the Czech capital on Thursday. “We came here yesterday to spend New Year’s Eve time alone, and today, for the fourth time, the train is going home, where we will spend the midnight celebrations with friends,” he said. If their train is not late, they will arrive in Saxony before seven in the evening. “The trains are still running. It’s a bit like the world isn’t over,” Martin added with a smile.
Zeibura, who has already spent a lot of New Year’s Eve in Prague, used to come from London, but when asked where he came from, he replied that he was “from Žižkov.” “My classic is to spend Christmas with family and New Year’s Eve with friends. I prefer smaller domestic events. I no longer enjoy going to the club on New Year’s Eve because they are almost always crowded with people who don’t go to the club otherwise. fluent Czech with a slight hint of East Moravian dialect.
“I don’t fire any firecrackers or fireworks at midnight, but sometimes we go to Vítkov to see them,” Zeibura added. However, pyrotechnics are something that tourists can attract to Prague. In Germany, for example, this year it is not allowed to sell at all before the end of the year due to a pandemic.
Since last year, however, the use of fireworks in the capital has been banned in selected places. These include the monument reserve, nature parks and protected areas, the surroundings of watercourses and islands, dams and dikes. The ban also applies in the vicinity of the Troja Zoo and homes for the elderly and other residential social facilities. The list of places is on web municipality. There is a ban on the release of so-called lucky lanterns throughout the city. Compared to previous years, the New Year’s welcome in Prague will be possible even without fireworks organized by the city.
