Prague Market in Holešovice will launch a year of events for its 125th anniversary

The Prague Market in Holešovice in undergoing revitalization. The city took control of the entire complex last year, and intends to create a lively place with a diverse range of shops, services and cultural activities for all generations.

It had been mostly filled with stalls selling cheap clothes, house wares, and decorations. It was also home to a bordello.

The complex at Prague Market (Pražská tržnice) is a former slaughterhouse that this year celebrates its 125th anniversary. Statues of bulls in front of the main entrance are a reminder of its origins.

“Every month something will happen in the market. The Forman Brothers will come, we are joining the Open House Prague festival, organizing Easter markets, and opening a food truck zone. In addition, we will start with the renovations, present a plan for the future use of the halls, and of course we will keep everything that works well,” Deputy Mayor Pavel Vyhnánek (Praha sobě) said.

“Hall 22 has a vegetable market and people will also find a supermarket and an Asian market. The The Prague Market is waiting for a great year, and I invite all Prague residents not to miss it,” he added.

The celebration of the anniversary of the establishment of the complex will begin February 27 with the lighting of the water tower. It will culminate in July, when the slaughterhouse was put into operation 125 years ago, and will last until autumn.

As part of the celebrations, a food truck zone will be inaugurated March 25 between halls 13 and 17. At the same time, the premises will offer a public sculpture exhibition in cooperation with the Trafo Gallery.

On March 22, Saturday markets will be launched in the marketplace with the theme of spring. These will last until Easter. The market area is also open for short-term rentals and one-off events, for example in March there will be a festival of Balkan food and music on March 28 and a folklore party on March 19.

“This year’s celebrations are to open the premises to the public and offer a taste of the atmosphere we would like to create here all year round. Individual halls and premises will be gradually renovated and offered for rent. However, we already allow temporary rentals of buildings and outdoor areas for various one-off events,” Prague Market curator Michal Tošovský said.

In April, the area will turn green thanks to the location of containers with shrubs and trees as well as the urban cultivation and composting festival on April 25. In cooperation with the curator team of 3Kurátorky, an exhibition will be installed in the market hall in April, which will commemorate the sculptural exhibition Forum 88, which took place here in 1988. There will also be the MINT market on April 18 and two Latino festivals, on April 19 and 25. .

The Prague Market on May 16–17 will take part in the popular Open House Prague festival, which makes the buildings otherwise inaccessible to the public.

In autumn, several theater events will take place on the premises. The Forman Brothers Theater will be temporarily settled in the marketplace with a performance of Deadtown and a new game for the premises will be prepared by the immersion theater specialists from the Pomezí group. The renowned stage of the new circus Jatka 78 will relaunch its performance Mass for Souls (Mše za duše), which began five years ago in the market and honored the history of the premises.

Prague Market, formerly the Central Slaughterhouse of the Royal City of Prague (Ústřední jatka královského města Prahy), was built in 1983 and inaugurated in 1895. Since 1993 it has been protected as a cultural monument. The area of 103,060 square meters consists of 40 buildings with Art Nouveau and Neo-Renaissance design elements. The architect was Josef Srdínek. The two bull statues at the entrance to the complex are by Czech sculptors Bohuslav Schnirch and Čeněk Vosmík.

People often call it the Holešovice Market (Holešovická tržnice) to avoid confusion with other open-air markets in Prague.