The march traditionally stops traffic on the Čech bridge. Photo: archive
From Monday 5 to Sunday 11 August, the Prague Pride festival will take place in the capital. More than 200 festival events are prepared for visitors at various locations in the city. The culmination of the festival is the Pride Parade on Saturday, August 10. The participants of the parade will leave at 12 o’clock from the lower part of Wenceslas Square along Na Příkopě and Havířská streets through Ovocný trh, Celetna, Staroměstské náměstí, Pařížská and Čechův most to Letenské sady. The mentioned localities will be partially restricted for traffic for approximately three hours, the closures will mostly affect the Čech bridge, which will be closed to the passage of cars, buses and trams. Vít Hofman, the spokesperson of the municipality, informed about it.
“Traffic restrictions on Saturday, August 10 between 12:15 and 3 p.m. will concern tram lines No. 17, 27, 41, 42. They will be routed through the Malostranská stops in the vicinity of the Čech bridge instead of through the Faculty of Law stop,” he said spokesman.
The measure will also affect bus line number 207, which will be temporarily canceled from the stops Nemocnice Na Františku and Faculty of Law, it will be routed along the left-bank road through the stops Čechův most and Malostranská to Staroměstská. Bus line No. 194 will be in operation only in the section Nemocnice pod Petřínem – Staroměstská, it will be out of service in the section Staroměstská – Florenc.
The organizers of the parade expect the participation of several tens of thousands of people. The route is slightly modified compared to previous years due to construction work in the vicinity of Prašná brány. The organizers recommend that participants come to Wenceslas Square at least an hour in advance and plan their arrival on foot from the direction of Národní trády, Republiky Square or the Můstek subway, as a tram line is being built in the upper part of Wenceslas Square and Jindřišská and Vodičkova streets are therefore less accessible.
The Prague police are preparing increased security measures throughout the festival. The Slovak National Criminal Agency brought information about a planned terrorist attack on the Rainbow Pride event, which took place in Bratislava last month.
The measures will be supervised by more police officers and criminalists than usual, police officers from the anti-conflict team, first-line patrols with long weapons with ballistic protection, criminalists from the department of extremism and terrorism, law enforcement units and other specialists will be present. A police helicopter will also be available.
“Prague will always be a city that will stand up for the rights of everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, race or religion,” said Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS).
“The theme of this year’s festival is that family is not defined by blood relations, but by love, mutual respect and unconditional acceptance. A family as a community of people who consider themselves a family,” said Adam Zábranský (Pirates), Prague councilor for property, legislation and transparency.
“In cooperation with the Technology of the City of Prague company, we will hang rainbow flags during the festival, which will decorate Národní Street, Most Legií and, on the day of the parade, Čechův Most. There will also be lighting up of the Petřín Observatory, on the first and last evening of the festival,” said Councilor for Infrastructure Michal Hroza (TOP 09).
