The word pohoda means to be relaxed, to have a good time and feel good in the Czech and Slovak languages. It is also the name of the largest music event held in Slovakia since 1997. This year’s Pohoda will run from 16 to 18 July at its traditional venue, the Trenčín airport, presenting a multitude of music styles, formations and stages. There will be shuttle busses to pick you up at the train station. There will be a discussion on emigration and immigration prepared by the British Council. There will be Slovak’s beer Zlatý Bažant for only EUR 1 per glass. Tickets purchased at the venue cost EUR 65. The headliners include Patti Smith, Travis, Pendulum, Ojos de Brujo, Lamb, Basement Jaxx, Fujiya & Miyagi, The Whip and This Will Destroy You. No worries, the event will not destroy you. It is Pohoda after all.
If Slovakia is too far for you but you still want to go for a trip, visit Český Krumlov. You may catch the concert of Renée Fleming, a celebrated soprano, who will perform with the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Keenan, at the local Brewery Garden on Saturday. Another show not to be missed is the staging of Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka in the open-air theatre that features a revolving auditorium in the castle gardens. Both events are part of the music festival which runs from 17 July to 22 August.
If you happen to visit the Lipno dam in South Bohemia on your holiday, you may want to explore the local festival events, Kulturní léto na Lipně, taking place in Lipno nad Vltavou throughout the whole summer. Jazz singer Jan Smigmator with friends has prepared a diverse cultural programme with revival bands, dance parties and theatre shows all situated in a large circus tent. It could be your warm-up activity before Letní letná, an annual festival of new circus, theatre, music and visual arts to open in Prague on 19 August. France’s Cirque Trottola circus will return after three years with their latest performance, Volchok. Tickets are on sale!
There is one circus-related event you should know about. Puppeteers, stiltwalkers, pole-balancers, storytellers, music makers, pantomimes, jugglers and jokers from around the world will take over Kampa from 19 to 21 July as part of the Teatrotoč summer street theatre festival. Don’t leave your kids at home as this is a festival designed primarily for them.
It seems like big celebrities of the music scene decided to party together in Prague this week. You may still get tickets to some of the shows if you hurry. The concert of Patti Smith tonigh at Archa Theatre is already sold out but you may still get into Tesla Arena to see a great guitar player, BB King, to perform as part of his tour which he has said is his last. Playing also tonight, and for the first time in the Czech Republic, UK’s Joe Jackson will bring his latest release, Rain, to Lucerna Music Bar. On Thursday, American composer Philip Glass will play chamber music accompanied by violoncellist Wendy Sutter and percussionist Mick Rossi at the Congress Centre. Anastacia, another big star from the US, will hit the stage of Tesla Arena with her powerful voice also on Thursday night.
If you want to take a break from music, go to Štvanice Island in Prague to watch first-class women’s tennis players competing within the WTA tour at ECM Prague Open 2009. The event closes on Sunday with the exhibition matches featuring former professional tennis players Pat Cash, Henri Leconte, Bohdan Ulihrach and Iranian tennis legend Mansour Bahrami.
How about an exhibition? Prague’s Museum of Decorative Arts runs an exhibit called Memories Returned, which presents a collection of Jewish property of cultural character stolen by the Nazis from the Holocaust victims during the World War Two. Václav Cigler’s exhibition Meeting Places at Museum Kampa centers around several large-scale installations made of glass that are built into the museum’s architecture and create visual transformations which occur when an individual passes through a landscape.
Now, imagine there is a different building on the site of the St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. Imagine the cathedral is replaced with a giant candle slowly melting and flooding the streets of Malá Strana and tourists visiting the historical Prague. Would you consider this to be a good conservation plan for the historical city? To understand better, go to NoD gallery at Roxy on Dlouhá street to see a collection of designs to replace the cathedral that have been created by students of architecture. Their works are on show until the end of the week.
Now a few tips for the movie-goers. A documentary about Patti Smith, the legendary punk poet and singer, is on the programme of Kino Aero today from 6pm. Another movie presented within the Echoes of IFF Karlovy Vary at Prague’s cinemas Světozor and Aero is a Jim Jarmusch film, The Limits of Control. The Slovak film Pokoj v duši (Soul at Peace), a drama by Vladimír Balko set in the mountain area of Central Slovakia was in the main competition at this year’s festival in Karlovy Vary. Harry Potter fans who have not seen the sixth part of their favourite series can celebrate as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is entering Czech cinemas on Thursday.
