Kateřina Heilmann

With temperatures reaching over 20C last week, it is hard to accept that now we have to put on winter jackets and hats when going out. Below you may find events that will entertain you while getting used to it. The 12th Guitar Across Styles festival will showcase the diverse genres played acoustically. This year’s highlights are the Italian virtuoso Beppe Gambetta, Czech composer and pedagogue Jiří Jirmal, and Vicki Genfan, an American singer and guitarist known for her fingerpicking technique. She will perform together with the phenomenal electric guitar player Jennifer Batten. The festival will take place across the country at venues including Prague’s Dejvické theatre and Palác Akropolis from 18 October through 28 November. The opening show atContinue Reading

Spice up your life, says an invitation to the spice and cheese festival occupying the Old Town Square until 16 October. If you can’t find it, follow the sounds of accordion, dulcimer and violin played by old Prague style cabaret and gypsy bands. Tonight in Žižkov, Germany’s DJ Shantel and his eight-member Bucovina Club Orkestar will play their mix of Balkan gypsy melodies with electronic sounds. The 2006 winner of the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music will play songs from the latest album Planet Paprika as well as his old pieces. Tickets to the show at Palác Akropolis are available from CZK 410. The former Federal Parliament building located in the upper part of the Wenceslas Square willContinue Reading

Days are getting shorter and nights aren’t that warm anymore. Why not to hide inside a movie theatre? The Bio Oko cinema in the Letná neighbourhood has reopened with new management that brings a solid technical background and movie programme as a partner to the arty Světozor and Kino Aero. The cinema offers independent films, discounted screenings for children and seniors, and drinks and snacks at a bar. The seating area ranging from collapsible chairs to cushion seats is just another reason to check it out. The annual festival of cinema from German-speaking countries will present a collection of films produced by the postwar studio DEFA as well as selections focusing on 1989, the year the wall fell. The Oscar-winnerContinue Reading

Want to know what’s new in the world of design and architecture but have no time to search? Don’t miss today’s Pecha Kucha at Kino Aero where 14 speakers active in the spheres of design, architecture, photography and landscaping will each show 20 slides for 20 seconds in the course of the evening, beginning at 20:20. If you like poetry, especially the works of American poet Robinson Jeffers, go to the Municipal Library on Mariánské náměstí today. Professor Elliot Roberts, vice president of the Robinson Jefferson Tor House Foundation and author of many books inspired by Jeffers’ life and work; and Czech actress Táňa Fischerová will read Jeffers’ poetry from 6:30pm. In mood for music and you are free onContinue Reading

Although indian summer is yet to come (and I hope it will) you can enjoy the Indian Summer festival this weekend, 12 September, if you come to the Mental Hospital in Bohnice. The open air festival of music and theatre, Babí léto, held within the Weeks for Mental Sanity will mark the festival’s 20th birthday and celebrate 100 years of the hospital’s existence. Music by Zuby nehty, Už jsme doma, Krásné nové stroje, Hm… and other Czech bands will take up the stage together with several theatre ensembles, including the homeless persones’ theatres from Slovakia and Hungary. Art workshops and psychiatric consultations are included. Starts at 12:30. You don’t have to wait till Sunday to enjoy live action on stage.Continue Reading

September is here and so is the grape harvest season. One of many vinobraní celebrations to be held across the country to mark the new wine harvest starts at Prague Castle this weekend. Held at the Riding School Terrace Garden of the Castle, Vinobraní na Pražském hradě will include dulcimer music, wine tasting, fencing, kids activities and guided tours. You will get to taste freshly pressed grape juice squeezed in a replica of a historical grape press. Fermented grape juice known as burčák will also be served. The weekend event runs both days from 11am to 5pm and entry is free (except for the Saturday wine tasting). If you’re looking to sweeten it up some more, check out the openContinue Reading

Hundreds of dancers will gather in the centre of Prague to celebrate Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday. The event, called King of Pop Forever, will start at 11am in front of the InterContinental hotel (where Jackson stayed during his HIStory tour in 1996). Other participants will dance to the song Beat It at other places around the city, which have not yet been confirmed. Organisers expect more than 1,000 people to attend. Anyone who likes dancing is welcome to join in. An accompanying event with Prague-based Jackson impersonators will follow from 3pm at Žluté lázně in Podolí. Vyšehrátky is an event you should not miss, especially if you have kids. Held at Vyšehrad from 1 to 6 September, the festival willContinue Reading

Prague has a new cultural venue. The cantilevered glass building located next to the National Museum, which was until recently protected with concrete barriers to prevent a terrorist attack, has now opened to the public. You can explore its history dating back to the 1930s, when it hosted the Prague stock exchange. During the communist era, it was home to parliament, and between 1995 and February 2009 it was Radio Free Europe’s headquarters. Now headed by the National Museum, the venue will host exhibitions and other cultural events beginning this fall. On 16 September, an exhibition will open to present the Košice Gold Treasure, which ranks among the most unique European coin discoveries. On 9-16 October, the annual International TheatreContinue Reading