5. 5. 2022 |
After a two-year-long break the spa season in Karlovy Vary will be opened again with a town wide celebration. All the weekend from the 6th to the 8th May will be reserved for it and the main events will be opening of the renovated Sprudel Colonnade and unveiling a new Charles IV statue in Theatre Square.
The coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to open the spa season in the past two years. However, this year nothing prevents the suite of Charles IV, the founder of the town, from walking through the town. Smetana Park will change into a handicraft fair with historical attractions and creative workshops for children and a stage will be built near the post office in TGM Street where a number of artists ranging from local ones to those coming from other places will take turns from Friday to Sunday. On Saturday the famous ceremony of consecrating the Karlovy Vary mineral springs will take place. The Sprudel, which is returning to the Sprudel Colonnade after its renovation, will also be sprinkled with holy water. Prominent personalities will be presented the top prizes of the town – the Town Award and Honorary Citizenship- during a gala evening. Lovers of porcelain will have an opportunity to admire and purchase the products of the biggest Czech producer at a market outside the Thermal Hotel. The three-day marathon will culminate in a Sinatrian festival in Svatý Linhart forest centre on Sunday.
The Sprudel back in the colonnade
The public will have the first opportunity to watch the Sprudel shooting mineral water in the renovated Sprudel Colonnade on the eve of the opening of the season. The opening ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday the 5th May and on Saturday the 7th May the Sprudel as well as the renovated spring vases and the colonnade will be consecrated.
EVENTS SELECTED FROM THE PROGRAMME OF THE OPENING OF THE SPA SEASON 2022
HANDICRAFT FAIR AND ATTRACTIONS FOR CHILDREN | Friday – Sunday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Smetana Park
The park surrounding the Elizabeth Spa Building will be filled with tens of stalls.
CONCERTS AND THEATRE AND DANCE PERFORMANCES | Friday – Sunday
Leading artists of the Czech and Slovak scenes together with local artists will perform in the colonnades, in parks and other places in the town.
PORCELAIN MARKET | Friday – Saturday – the Thermal Hotel
The company THUN 1794 will organize a porcelain selling festival in front of the Thermal Spa Hotel.
CONSECRATING THE SPRINGS | Saturday 10 a.m. – the Mill Colonnade
The traditional ceremony of consecrating the Karlovy Vary springs will be performed by Monsignor František Radkovský, the emeritus bishop of Plzeň. The event will start in the Mill Colonnade at 11 a.m. and finish in the Sprudel Colonnade.
CHARLES IV’ s PROCESSION | Saturday 3 p.m. – Charles IV Park – Smetana Park
A seventy-member procession of a suite led by King Charles IV on a horseback with the show of his knights and their jousts, jugglers, dancers and others will set off from Charles IV Park near the Imperial Spa Building. It will arrive at Theatre Square at 3.15 p.m. where a brand new equestrian statue of Charles IV will be unveiled. Then the procession will continue to the Mill Colonnade and, finally, to Smetana Park where it will finish.
UNVEILING THE NEW CHARLES IV STATUE | Saturday 3.15 p.m. – Theatre Square
The oversized equestrian statue of Charles IV will be a new dominating feature in Theatre Square. The height of the monument including the base, the work of the sculptor Michael Gabriel, is 5.6 metres. The unveiling ceremony will be held after the royal procession reaches the square.
CONCERT OF FILM MELODIES | Saturday 5 p.m. – the Mill Colonnade
A concert full of famous film melodies will be performed by the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra.
SINATRIAN CELEBRATIONS
Famous ragtime, swing and popular melodies will be heard during the 6th festival in the Svatý Linhart forest centre.
