The Prague Spring Festival was traditionally opened by My Fatherland by Bedřich Smetana. This time was performed by the Collegium 1704 ensemble In the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House in Prague. The Prague Spring, in its updated program of the 76th year, offers 23 concerts, which take place from today to June 3.
The concert design
The audience was spread out in the concert hall with distances and welcomed the musicians’ arrival with prolonged applause. Even before the opening tones of My Fatherland, Collegium 1704 played the national anthem. Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (ČSSD) or the Mayor of Prague Zdeněk Hřib (Piráti) were present in the auditorium.
Approach to ease the government restrictions
The number of spectators is considerably limited to three hundred listeners in the hall. Audience participation is also conditional on the implementation of additional measures against the spread of the covid-19 pandemic. For example, all viewers must pass a PCR test for coronavirus in contract laboratories. People must also wear FFP2 or KN95 respirators throughout their stay in the building.
On the festival’s website, you can watch all of the Prague Spring concerts for free. Selected concerts will also be performed by Czech Television and Czech Radio. The network of Czech Centers will contribute to the spread of the festival abroad.
It was held online last year due to steps taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus. In addition, instead of the planned 53 concerts, only 11 live performances took place, which reached 1.3 million views in the Czech Republic and 53 countries. The first year of the Prague Spring Festival took place in May 1946.