It’s 1 April, your great opportunity to pull someone’s leg. April Fool’s Day is celebrated in the Czech Republic, so you don’t have to worry people wouldn’t understand your jokes. Or maybe you better watch out not to get fooled yourself.
The beginning of April also brings the long-awaited spring weather with more sun, birds singing and trees turning green. If you are looking for outdoor activities in or outside the city, don’t forget about the number of castles and parks opening these days after a long winter break. This also pertains to the gardens in the vicinity of Prague Castle that are now open from 10am until 6pm.
With one exception: The castle will remain closed from 3 April, 9pm, until 5pm the following Monday due to Obama’s visit. If you want to hear the US president, go to Hradčanské náměstí on Sunday morning to listen to “the European speech of the year”.
Also, the ferry service on the Vltava river starts running today offering romantic and cheap boat trips. There are two ferries leaving from the centre, one connecting the National Theatre with some of the Vltava islands, Střelecký ostrov, Slovanský ostrov and Dětský ostrov. The other one has a larger route which goes from Jiráskovo náměstí to Císařská louka. The first trip will take you about 15 minutes and the second one is 10 minutes longer. All you need is a CZK 26 ticket or your seasonal transport ticket. And here is the daily schedule.
Easter is less than two weeks away. If you want to learn more about Czech Easter traditions, maybe to learn how to make a willow whip or decorate eggs, you can join the programme at Museum Kampa by Vltava river on Sunday from 1pm.
Although it is getting warmer every day, night temperatures may still be cold and here is where you can hide. Divadlo Archa has invited The Sisters of Mercy, an English rock band, which built their career on the early 1980s gothic rock and post punk. (Wednesday, 8pm) Roxy will present rapper Guru from Boston and his project Jazzmatazz on Wednesday. Accompanied by trumpet, flute, keyboards, guitar and saxophone, the rapper will produce fusion of jazz and hip-hop.
On Saturday, the Estates Theatre in Prague will for the first time stage the opera Rinaldo to mark 250 years since death of the German-born Baroque composer Georg Friedrich Händel. The following performance is on Monday.
If Baroque opera is not your cup of tea, you can go to Palác Akropolis for Percussion Mania. It’s a band of three percussionists who have played in Prague several times and always with a great success. They all come from Burkina Faso and play traditional instruments of their homeland – balafon, djembe, lunga, n’goni, baara, dundun. The guest will be Papis Nyass from Gambia and his band. The event is to promote activities of the Czech Forum for Development Co-operation (FoRS). Fair Trade products will be sold at the place.
If you are into fashion, this weekend you are in luck. The Prague Free Fashion Weekend, also known as Code:Mode, focuses on alternative fashion designs and accessories and will take place in Karlín Hall (Thámova 14, Prague 8) from Friday till Sunday. Music, unicycle and other freestyle shows are on the menu. Read more about the event in tomorrow’s Do It.
Speaking of textiles, the Prague-based Bohemia Patchwork Klub is hosting the 3rd Prague Patchwork Meeting this weekend at Hotel Pramen (Prague 9). On Saturday, the patchwork makers from all around the world will meet on a boat and cruise on the Vltava river. A CZK 500 (or EUR 20) ticket includes a table and dinner.
Two shows for Tuesday night: Japanese band Mono will bring their Hymn to the Immortal Wind to Akropolis accompanied by US band Troy von Balthazar. Circlesquare of Vancouver-born Jeremy Shaw brings electronic trance music to Roxy.
V petu tváře is an exhibition and also an interesting way how to recycle PET bottles. The author of the exhibit, Veronika Richterová, has since 2007 collected more than 1,375 bottles from 57 countries. She turns them into amazing design objects, which you can see at Prague’s Czech Centres (Rytířská 31) every day (but Monday) from 10am till 6pm (from 12 on Sat) through 18 April. No admission.
If hungry for popcorn, you can until 3 April still catch some of the Febiofest projections. The World of Shops and Shopping Malls section at Černý Most shopping centre features Věra Chytilová’s Panelstory, a 1979 film from an unfinished Prague housing complex.
On the occasion of Obama’s visit, Kino Aero has decided to include in its programme Oliver Stone’s W., a biographical film about George W. Bush. The 2008 film follows Bush from 1967 to his collage days, military service, governorship of Texas and oil businesses, leading to his 2000 candidacy for president and the 2004 re-election campaign. The first screening starts 5 April at 6pm. Another film that will allow your to “peep into presidential backroom” as Kino Aero says on its website, is the Czech documentary Citizen Havel (5 April, 8:30pm). The admission is CZK 100, but all presidents get 50% off.
Laya Project, “a visually sumptuous documentary” shot in remote coastal towns and villages in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar and India in the months after the devastating tsunami in 2004, is on the programme of kino Světozor for Monday evening (8:30). The film tracks a team from Indian record label EarthSync that traveled deep into the affected area, capturing performances by local folk musicians.
