Prague’s Signal Festival Named One of World’s Most Exciting

In its fifth year, organizers have announced several changes to ease the big crowds attracted to this citywide light spectacular

Expats.cz Staff Jason Pirodsky

Written by Expats.cz StaffJason Pirodsky Published on 06.10.2017 10:35:55 (updated on 06.10.2017) Reading time: 2 minutes

Canadian travel website Flightnetwork.com has issued a ranking of the 36 most highly anticipated world festivals for travelers, a mix of large-scale musical, culinary, and art events spanning multiple continents.

Two Prague entries made the list of its Top 36 Global Festivals We’re Most Excited For In 2017 with the Signal Festival coming in at #33 and the upcoming Prague Writer’s Festival (November 10-15) sneaking in at #35.

Signal Festival was described by the site as a “lighting up of Prague in all of its Baroque glory…a never-before-seen integration of light, art, and urban space across extraordinary local venues.”

Photo: SIGNAL Festival / Facebook
Photo: SIGNAL Festival / Facebook

Now in its fifth year, the 2017 Signal Festival runs from October 12-15 and will offer twenty-two installations. This year the festival is expanding its citywide light show to include two official festival routes: a Vinohrady and a “downtown” route.

The Vinohrady route, which includes light works at Náměstí Míru, Náměstí, Jiřího z Poděbrad, Riegrovy Sady will be a bit shorter than the Downtown route which is designed to guide visitors around “sites in the heart of Prague,” according to organizers.

Those sites include Kampa, Klementinum, Ovocný trh, and Náměstí Republiky among numerous others.

Photo: SIGNAL Festival / Facebook
Photo: SIGNAL Festival / Facebook

Also new this year, a selection of stalls, food trucks, and bars will be serving refreshments along the way and a large food truck and souvenir zone will be set up in the gardens of Svatopluk Čech. 

In addition to new locations and routes, a gallery zone will accommodate indoor light installations; artists showcasing their work inside and out represent emerging and established personalities from the Czech and international communities.

Organizers say that the extension of the festival is due to its historically high traffic—last year, Signal fest attracted 578,000 people to the streets of Prague; it has seen a total of 1.5 million attendees in the four years of its existence.

Photo: SIGNAL Festival / Facebook
Photo: SIGNAL Festival / Facebook

The program runs from 7pm to midnight and most of the works will be on display for free; a pass to the gallery zones is 100 CZK; 3D video mapping is 50 CZK.

The Guardian also ranked the Signal Festival as one of the ten best light art festivals in Europe in 2014. 

For the full program and map visit www.signalfestival.com.

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