Bizarre Prague
May 22 sees the week-long Prague Fringe Festival kick off, with around 200 wacky live acts performing in unusual venues around the city. We talked to Steve Gove, founder and director of the festival, to get his top tips on other weird and wonderful things to see and do in the Czech capital
BY LAURA LATHAM
WHAT TO SEE
PLASTIC FANTASTIC
If you want to see one of Prague’s quirkier sights, head to the Barbie collection at Prague Castle’s Toy Museum. There are literally hundreds(!) of Barbies dating back to the 1960s, including some really rare dolls. It’s absolutely nuts.
4 Jirská; tel: +420 2 2437 2294.
WHAT TO SEE
CHEEKY BUSKERS
You have to be Czech to be allowed to work on Charles Bridge, and the regulars are a real bunch of characters. One guy has become a local celebrity. He wears horns and paints portraits of himself as the devil. Tourists often try to take photos of him but he charges them (not with his horns!).
WHAT TO SEE
DANCING DRUNK
The Dancing House is a unique building, designed in the early 1990s, which really looks as though it’s constantly moving, hence the name. Some people call it Drunk House, because it looks like it’s keeling over! 80 Rašínovo nábrezí.
WHERE TO EAT
GOING UNDERGROUND
One of our festival venues, Glen’s, is the quintessential dark, smoky cellar bar. With bags of atmosphere, it’s one of the best places for live music. You can catch jazz or blues or head upstairs for cocktails.
23 Karmelitska; tel: +420 2 5753 1717, www.malyglen.cz
WHERE TO EAT
CLUBBED TO THE MAX
Funky Rodost FX is considered the best club in Prague, with different events every night, including a gay night, and good DJs. Upstairs there’s a bar and a veggie restaurant in a former art gallery, as well as a lounge for chilling out. On the weekends an American-style brunch is served from 10.30am.
Mmmm, waffles… 120 Belehradská; www.radostfx.cz
WHAT TO SEE
ART OF VIEWING
Pop into Lucerna Palace, where you’ll find a David Cerný statue – a wacky King Wenceslas sitting on an upside-down horse – which hangs from the glass cupola just outside the café. Don’t miss the original art nouveau cinema either, the interior is absolutely stunning.
61 Štepánská; www.lucerna.cz
WHAT TO SEE
RETRO BUYS
Art Deco Galerie is a gallery and a shop in one, crammed with wonderful period stuff – and you might spot one of its celebrity clients. You can find original art deco perfume bottles, lighting and vintage clothing. It’s not cheap but you’ll only find one-off pieces here.
21 Michalska; tel: +420 2 2422 3076, www.artdecogalerie-mili.com
WHERE TO EAT
FILL YOUR BOOTS
Dumplings are big in Prague – very big. As in served everywhere, lots of them and served with tonnes of gravy and a scrap of meat. They’re sliced from a huge, log-shaped mega-dumpling – very, very filling.
WHERE TO EAT
SHOW-STOPPING DINING
Barácnická Rychta restaurant serves good traditional food, but the real draw is the upstairs theatre. You never know what you’re going to see. It could be a tea dance or a funk band.
WHAT TO SEE
PEE OFF YOUR PARTNER
Czech artist David Cerný’s mad work is all over the city. The best-known installations are the giant babies crawling up the Žižkov Television Tower (1 Mahlerovy sady), and his peeing statues (yes, really!) outside the Kafka Museum (2b Cihelná). They wee words into a pond and if you text a message to the phone number displayed, the statues will spell it out for you. What a lovely way to tell someone you love them!
GET THERE NOW
FIRE UP THE BROOMSTICK
Witches’ Day is 30 April, a pagan festival harking back to the time when suspected witches were burnt. Bonfires are lit across the country, locals burn effigies of witches and some people try to jump over the flames (ouch!). A good place to see this is Petrín Hill.
DOWN THE TRACK
INDIAN EXTRAVAGANZA
The annual Bollywood film festival is a really fun event in October that shows new and classic films. It’s held in Kino Svetezor, a cinema worth checking out any time as there’s always something good on.
41 Vodickova; www.bollywood.cz
WHERE TO EAT
TEA SERVICE
Prague has lots of tea rooms, but U Zlatého Kohouta (Golden Cockerel) is my favourite. It’s tucked away in the Old Town and the staff pour your tea for you because they like to do it with proper ceremony. A great place to while away an afternoon.
3 Michalská.
DOWN THE TRACK
STRING SOMEONE ALONG
There’s so much good classical music in Prague, but the Strings of Autumn Festival offers something different. You can hear brilliant music from opera to jazz and classical, and all the acts have an unusual or quirky style.
Tel: +420 2 2490 1247, www.strunypodzimu.cz
WHAT TO SEE
BE SQUARE
Prague has the world’s only cubist lamppost, designed by Emil Králícek and located on Jungmannovo námestí, but for total cubist style visit Villa Müller. Designed by Adolf Loos, one of the most famous Czech architects, the interiors are decadent and packed with period features.
14 Nad Hradním vodojemem; www.mullerovavila.cz
CUTTING IT AT THE FRINGE
The Prague Fringe Festival was founded in 2001 and is now in its eighth very successful year. This year it runs from 22-30 May and features a packed schedule of live acts by performers from across the world, including Australia, Israel, Canada, Scotland, Japan and Norway. Events range from risqué late-night burlesque to music, stand-up comedy, poetry readings, drama and dance, and circus performers. Over 200 events take place in seven venues around the Malá Strana area of the city, including cavern-style theatres, jazz clubs and a historic church.
If you’re looking for somewhere to stay during the festival, Home Sweet Home comes highly recommended by the festival organisers. The company features flats in historical properties just a few minutes’ walk from festival venues at extremely good prices (about €23 per person per night).
