New Year’s Eve in Prague: There will be no fireworks, people can go to the cinema, theater or zoo

Fireworks are planned for Prague 21 and the surrounding districts on the eastern edge of the metropolis. In most places in the center, according to the decree, the use of fireworks is also prohibited on New Year’s Eve.

Afternoon, early evening and evening performances are performed on New Year’s Eve by a number of Prague theaters, for example in the National Theater you can choose from the Nutcracker ballet in the afternoon, the drama Poe at 17:00 and the opera Ples at the Savoy Hotel at 18:00. Performances on the last day of the year have been prepared by, among others, the Municipal Theaters of Prague, the Vinohrady Theater, the Na Zábradlí Theater, the Na Fidlovačce Theater and Jára Cimrman’s Žižkov Theater.

Cinemas will also be open, in addition to multiplexes and smaller ones. For example, the Lucerna cinema will broadcast live a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic with tenor Jonas Kaufmann, which will feature arias from Italian and Russian operas, Tchaikovsky’s Italian Capriccio or parts of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet.

The New Year’s program was also prepared by music clubs such as Rock Café, Roxy, Vagon, Lucerna Music Bar or Jazz Dock. During the day, the zoo and a number of public ice rinks will also be in operation, and the traditional midnight New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Metropolis Run will take place.

The restaurant and bars will also be open, which often require a reservation in advance due to high demand. Dinner in a better restaurant on New Year’s Eve in Prague can cost several thousand crowns, for example, a six-course menu in the restaurant in Žižkov’s transmitter costs 5,499 crowns. Regular businesses then usually offer a standard offer.

Among the options for spending the last day of the year are also trips by steamer. They are associated with a New Year’s Eve party involving a banquet and drinking. A five-hour cruise with dinner, free consumption and live music costs 4,750 crowns per person. Cruises vary in length and cost, and ships depart from a number of locations on the Vltava.

In Prague, the city traditionally organized a large fireworks display, in 2019 it was replaced by video mapping. Not even that one will be held this year. According to available information, only Prague 21, along with Běchovice, Koloděj and Klánovice, are planning fireworks. It will be held in a field between Běchovice and Újezd ​​nad Lesy.

At the same time, Prague tightened the rules for the use of fireworks two years ago – according to the decree, people are not allowed to set off fireworks in a conservation area, on floodplains, in nature parks and protected areas, around waterways and on islands, dams and dykes, in the vicinity of the Troj Zoo and in homes for seniors and other residential social facilities. According to city spokesman Vít Hofman, this year Prague launched a campaign using information signs in parks and on the waterfront, outdoor advertising carriers or space in the media, in which Prague residents are reminded of the restrictions. Violation of the ban is punishable by a fine of up to 100,000 crowns in administrative proceedings or up to 10,000 crowns on the spot.