New Year´s Eve in Prague 2010

Fireworks

Every year Prague city authorities put on an expensive firework display over the river, and every year a group of kooks, pyromaniacs, and sociopaths think they can do better with homemade rockets and explosive-packed trash cans. For this reason New Year´s Eve is the busiest night of the year in Czech casualty wards, and Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square are best avoided if you want to enter the new year on two legs. Good spots for watching the city display are the riverbank, bridges, Letná and Petřín. *** UPDATE: Please note there will be no city firework display in Prague this new year.

Culture

The State Opera will be welcoming another year with a performance of Strauss´s comic opera Die Fledermaus. Guests are welcomed with cocktails, dinner is served between acts, midnight is toasted on the roof-terrace, and after the performance audience-members dance on the stage till the small hours.

Across town the Church of St Simon and St Juda will celebrate the musical connection between Prague and Dresden with a programme of choral music by Zelenka, Bach, and Handel performed by Collegium 1704 & Collegium Vocale 1704, and conducted by Václav Luk.

Alternatively, a ten minute walk away in the opulent Rudolfinum, the Prague Symphony Orchestra will be performing music by Smetana, Dvořák, Sibelius, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Chopin, Martinů and Brahms.

Parties and Clubs

With typical flamboyance, the Prague Hilton is transporting whole sets from the Barrandov film studios to create a “Film Festival Party” complete with a Casablanca bar and gambling at Casino Royale. Separate Film Festival and Avenue of Stars parties kick off at 23:00 and the entrance fee covers half a bottle of champagne.  Separate menus are offered at the CzechHouse Grill and Rotisserie, Café Bistro, and Cloud 9 Bar, and there is also a Cartoon Kid´s Corner.

Over at the Hilton Prague Old Town, Zinc Restaurant hosts a New Year’s Eve Around the World Gourmet Dinner, which features a five-course meal with wine, entertainment, and a disco for 3450 CZK per person.

The Hotel InterContinental – whose rooftop terrace makes for a prime Prague viewing location on New Year´s Eve – offers up a number of events: restaurants Zlatá Praha and Primátor feature (respectively) a New Year´s Eve Gala and Buffet from 18:00, while Duke´s Bar hosts a Dance Party from 22:00.

Prague 4´s Corinthia Hotel also serves up a number of NYE events: gala buffet & party Gimme Music & Let´s Dance features a live band and costumed performers in costumes ranging from 20s Charleston and 30s Cabaret to 60s Rock´n´Roll and 80s Disco for 3800 CZK, while Disco Fever at the Bellevue Hall offers up beats by DJ Adam, drinks, and a midnight snack for 1000 CZK.

Over at the Mövenpick Hotel in Prague 5, Il Giardino Restaurant features live swing & jazz music to accompany a 6-course candlelit dinner; also included: a welcome drink at the Tower Bar and terraces overlooking the fireworks shows for a midnight toast. Price: 130 EUR per person.

Guests are also tempted with lentils at Občanská plovárna (Public Baths) the 19th Century spa converted into a restaurant and music club. Other temptations include an 80´s and 90’s disco, a Cancan crash course, the chance to win a spar break in the tombola, and something called “the CRASH DANCE”.

Over at SaSaZu, the goliath of Prague clubs, is the 3D disco, which promises “a journey to year 2011.” Performing at the event are 3D Novak Collective Disco from the UK, DJ Da Fresh from France and German-Czech collaborative effort Femme 2 Fatale. The party starts at 8pm.

Up on a terrace overlooking the carnage on Wenceslas Square, Duplex Club´s party will feature Mediterranean dining, four DJs and “the lovely sexy girls of the Duplex Dancers.” Dining starts at 20:00, the party starts at 22:00 and if you arrive before midnight you get a free welcome drink.

If you prefer decadence with a pious face Klub Kostel, formerly St Michael´s Church, offers free drink, food (free for holders of the VIP ticket, on sale to everyone else) and three floors of House,  R n´ B and Hiphop.

Dining

Bily koníček is offering three menus – steak, fish or Czech on New Year´s Eve, plus live music, though at 5990 CZK per head prices are on a par with restaurants at the city´s five star hotels.

At Francouzska Restaurant in the Municipal House you can dine in impressive Art Nouveaux restaurant settings – which includes murals by Alfonse Mucha – and listen to live piano music a few minute´s walk from the fireworks.

Konírna Restaurant on Maltézské náměstí is offering more traditional celebrations, with live Czech folk music, canopies, and a bottle of sparkling white wine for every guest. At midnight guests will be presented with fireworks and ham-roasted lentils – a Czech New Year tradition meant to ensure wealth in the coming year.

For those who prefer their fireworks from a civilized distance, Nebozizek on Petřín hill is the place. The restaurant is inside a pleasant heated glass conservatory, surrounded by orchards, with panoramic views of the city.

If your New Year´s resolution is no more dumplings, Indian restaurant Khajuraho is offering guests a buffet and live traditional Indian entertainment including dancers, Indian music, and dancing to Bollywood hits.

Thai Delicates is providing an all-you-can-eat buffet and bar, as well as a terrace for firework-gazing and a children´s corner, for 999 CZK, which must be this year´s bargain.

Those of you looking for something different will find it at the cave-like Triton Restaurant, which is holding a “Medieval Feast” with Medieval-style entertainment, which apparently included disco. Get down like Joan of Arc.

Related articles: Christmas Markets 2010

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