The Darling Buds of May, Festival Season Begins

We've had Masopust and Easter but these are usually not set in the best weather. May brings cool early mornings that warm up fast so if you start out in jeans, make sure you put a pair of shorts in your bag. The renovation of the Old Town Hall has now begun. Access to the building is still open but you'll find it's getting a bit dusty. Outside, the scaffolding is beginning to cover the lower part.

Bank Holidays

We have bank holidays on May 1st (Labour Day) and May 8th (Liberation Day). This year they fall on a Monday. Locals will recognise the drop in traffic due to the school holidays but tourists will not see much difference. Expect that large supermarkets and many independent businesses will be closed and banks will have reduced hours.

Prague Beer Festival

May 11th sees the start of the popular Prague Beer Festival with it's associated selection of great food and drink. You'll find details in my "page picks" below where I describe the ticket options and how it works etc. This year there's a single entry fee for unrestricted festival access and refunds on unused card credit.

Prague Spring International Music Festival

May 11th sees the prelude to the the start of the Prague Spring International Music Festival with the festival itself beginning on May 12th. Known more for it's classical music content but you'll find several other types of music and performances performed in several of Prague's top venues. More in the "page picks" below.

OpenHouse

On the weekend of 13th/14th May there is a little known local event called "Open House". Over that weekend you'll find several private properties in the city are thrown open to the public to come in and look around. In former years you had to make a ticket reservation but this year it looks like you just turn up and queue. Details on the Open House website (Czech-Only).

Prague Food Festival

The weekend beginning Friday 26th May see the start of the annual Prague Food Festival. This is a 3-day event located this year at the Vyšehrad complex. More than 20 restaurants and food businesses will be showing off the best that Prague has to offer. Festival menu, cookery workshops, beer tastings all set within the park. More details on the "Page picks" below.

Prague Castle Open Day

On May 13th, to celebrate the birth of Queen Maria Theresa 300 years ago, Prague Castle main historic buildings will be FREE to enter. This includes ST Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace and Golden Lane.

What's Been Happening on the Site

I published an eclectic mix of content in the last month. It included a set of posts related to higher education in Prague and the history behind several of Prague's top universities which you can access via the Universities page. 

For people intending to include a trip to Brno then I wrote about the UNESCO Villa Tugendhat.

For people looking to buy jewellery and specifically Garnet whilst in Prague then I wrote about the Czech Garnet and how to spot the real stuff mined in Czech. Read more on the Bohemian Garnet page.

Wishing you all a great May. Feel free to follow, share and leave comments about my content. My 3 page picks from this month are below.

Jason