traveldk.com

Bedřich Smetana’s Má vlast (My Country) kicks off the annual three-week festival that draws classical music performers and fans from around the globe. The round of concerts closes with Beethoven’s Ninth symphony.

Prague Spring’s little sister has been running since 1991. Held in both Prague and Karlovy Vary, each year’s festival begins with a vocal symphonic work, such as Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis or Dvořák’s Requiem .

It’s easier to hobnob with the stars here than at Cannes or Berlin. Hundreds of partygoers fairly turn the sleepy west Bohemian spa town upside down for 10 days. Hundreds of screenings, too.

The dawn finds young lovers dragging themselves home after a night of doing what comes naturally on Petřín Hill. While they sleep, their parents spend the national holiday trying to forget the old obligatory Communist rallies.

The creative minds behind the Alfred ve Dvoře theatre bring their trademark genre-bending artistry out of the theatre and parade it through the city centre on stilts. Offerings are both comic and macabre – much like the city itself.

This international dance festival is on the verge of becoming something great. The local dance scene has greatly benefited from it, and audiences can now see contemporary productions year-round.

With 39 jumps stretching over 7 km (4 miles), this is one of the biggest steeplechases in Europe. The first steeplechase here was held in 1874.

Salman Rushdie, Susan Sontag and Elie Wiesel are just some of the internationally acclaimed authors who have attended this annual event. The organizers often get grief for giving Czech writers short shrift.

Czech swine start getting nervous in early February as the nation whets its appetite and knives for their version of Carnival. While the beer-and-pork orgies are more common in villages than in the big city, working-class Žižkov (see Greater Prague) throws a large party each year.

Czech Christmas celebrations are largely devoid of religion, but the mulled wine starts flowing on St Nicholas’s Day and doesn’t stop until the Christmas carp is all eaten and New Year (Silvestr ) fireworks arsenals are depleted.