Late evening, on the first of May –
The twilit May – the time of love.
Meltingly called the turtle-dove,
Where rich and sweet pinewoods lay.
Prague’s Petřín hill may not have pinewoods, but it is certainly a good place for a romantic evening. May Day is not only a work-free holiday in the Czech Republic but is also a celebration of love. It is when lovers kiss under a cherry tree to seal their romance forever. Cherry trees in Petřín are in full bloom. People also go to Petřín to commemorate Karel Hynek Mácha, the 19th century Romantic poet and author of the above quoted Máj.
But May Day is not until Friday and there are more things to do ahead of that. On the last day of April, the country will be flooded with witches and people will set up fires to weaken their powers. If you want to know more about what is know as pálení čarodějnic – the burning witches – go back to last week’s Do It. Festivities are planned at many Prague venues, including Stromovka, Císařská louka, Hostivař dam, Žluté lázně, Ladronka, Parukářka and Břevnov monastery.
Today a festival is opening on Jungmannovo náměstí, presenting the food and wine specialties of France’s Burgundy. A two-day event, held within the regional partnership of Central Bohemia and Burgundy, will enable you to discover some truly good stuff from ten Burgundy farmers. Red wines from Chablis, Beaune and Nuits-saint-Georges vineyards as well as celebrated sparkling wine Crémant will be on offer for discounted prices. To have a bite with your wine, you can go from salami, paté and cheese to foie gras, Dijon Mustard, Burgundy snails to Chicken from Bresse. Of course sweet crepes and jams will also be available.
Once done with Burgundy, you can move to Wines Home in Old Town’s Bílkova, for Alsace Days, a culinary event presenting four small wine producers and traditional food from the French region. Photos of a French artist who designs wine labels and jazz music is part of the programme, which ends on Friday. Read more in Monitor’s article about Wines Home.
Bedřich Smetana’s My Country will open the Prague Spring International Festival 12 May and the Czech capital will for the following three weeks be presenting outstanding figures from the world of classical music. Some of the shows are already sold out but the programme is large and you can still find tickets for your favourite artist. Also a great show could be the concert of young talented American soprano, Nicol Cabell, the winner of the 2005 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, at the Municipal House today at 7:30pm.
If you are in the mood for alternative music, go to Palác Akropolis. On Sunday, the Žižkov club will have Berry, a French theatre actress, singer and songwriter, who made a great success with her debut album Mademoiselle in the French speaking countries and now is expanding her talents abroad. The Tuesday show will present the Czech Republic’s best newcomer of 2008, the band Toxique. Headed by charismatic singer Klára Vytisková, the five-member group promises a great pop show with cow pattern jackets, tufted skirts and boas on the stage. Should be fun.
More Czech bands will play 1 May at Archa Theatre as part of the Life Without Barriers event (8pm) organised by the civic group Opona on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Velvet Revolution. Vladimír Mišík, Vlasta Třešňák, Tony Ducháček, Jaroslav Hutka and others will play songs that were banned under communism.
Terne Čhave is a Czech Romani band that had difficulties performing after several encounters with skinheads in the early 1990s. Since their comeback in 2000, the band has been on a number of tours, also abroad, and won several awards, including Best Czech World Music Album of 2008 for More, love! You can see them today at Bunkr. The band was supposed to play at Rock Café on Národní but the Prague 1 officials banned the music programme because the club allegedly exceeded the noise limits. If you are against the ban, take part in a protest event scheduled to take place at the club on the Prague upraising day, 5 May.
On Thursday, the Czech Museum of Music in Karmelitská street will host a performance of Czech choreographer Andrea Miltnerová and her The Baroque Body Revealed, a presentation of baroque culture through dance.
An exhibition of old European posters from the late 19th and early 20th century is open at Old Town’s Clam-Gallas Palace through 7 June. The exhibition features posters from the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts, with emphasis on Czech, Austrian, German and French artists, including Toulouse-Lautrek, Jules Chéret, Luděk Marold and author of the National Theatre curtain, Vojtěch Hynais.
