The traditional lighting of the Christmas tree at the Old Town Square won’t be available to the regular spectators due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The event will be recorded and uploaded online with background music.
According to Jan Chabr, a representative of the capital city of Prague, the actual time of the lightning won’t be specified. The tree was felled last Sunday and will stand up on Tuesday night. The decoration will happen by Friday.
This year, the municipal company Technologie of the Capital City of Prague is responsible for the Christmas tree. Usually, it was the private company Taiko which provided the tree as part of the classic Christmas markets in the city center. However, this year, the markets will be moved to the other parts of the city. The smaller markets in urban areas will be limited, as well.
A 17.5 meters tree was transported from the Central Bohemian village of Kamenný Přívoz. Roman Veselý, the owner of the tree, planted it about 35 years ago. He earned 10,000 CZK from the municipality for it.
The whole decoration is a six-kilometer chain of lights, 40 stars, and 300 Christmas balls colored in the national tricolor. Tomáš Jílek, the chairman of the board of directors of Technologie of the Capital City of Prague, explained that they based the decision on the citizens’ votes:
“We conducted such a poll among the citizens, not without interest such a moderate and relatively sober decoration won. And we respected it”.
Since the government doesn’t want gatherings to happen, the usual celebrations with Christmas markets won’t take place this year. However, the regulations for the holidays are still waiting to be announced, added Chabr.