Prague to host a community breakfast for 2,000 people on Old Town Square

Two years ago, Prague said goodbye to coronavirus restrictions with a mass event on Charles Bridge that saw around 2,000 people share dinner across a table that stretched more than 500 meters down the middle of the Prague landmark.

While the Czech Republic repealed its initial pandemic restrictions at the end of June, 2020, however, the next two years would see additional waves of Covid and further regulations.

The event made international headlines, however, and offered local residents a brief glimmer of hope in the midst of uncertain times. Two years later, while the pandemic is largely forgotten despite a recent rise in new cases, war rages in Ukraine with effects felt around the world; hope is still a welcome proposition.

This Wednesday, June 29, the same tables that stretched across Charles Bridge will now come to Old Town Square for a breakfast event for up to 2,000 people. Residents are invited to swing by the Prague landmark from 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. to dine with their neighbors before swarms of tourists hit the location.

The event is organized by Ondřej Kobza and his Piano in the Streets (Piána na ulici) initiative, the same people behind the Charles Bridge dinner two years ago.

"After two years, we want to follow up on the long table event on Charles Bridge. This time we will spread out a five-hundred-meter-long table on Old Town Square, where we will be able to have breakfast together," Kobza writes on Facebook.

"The table is a great symbol. The family meets at the table. They drink morning coffee. Letters are written. Peace treaties are being signed. The Knights of King Arthur met at a round table."

Unlike the previous event, which connected tables in a single 515-meter line down Charles Bridge, this time the tables will be spread across Old Town Square in a circular formation.

Like the Charles Bridge dinner, the tables will be covered in white tablecloths with vases of flowers. Anyone who comes is just asked to bring something that they can share with those around them, whether it be coffee, fruit, bakery items, or perhaps even some champagne.

Guests are asked to register for the event in advance, but Kobza invites those who weren't able to register to come to Old Town Square anyway to experience the hospitality of their neighbors.

"The goal of breakfast is to experience this empty space. Hence breakfast. No crowded tourists. The square has always been a place of meeting and gossip. Perhaps we will remember this original role for at least a few hours," writes Kobza.

"We would like to organize a similar long table event every year. In other places. To point out places with similar potential."

Registration for the breakfast at Prague's Old Town Square is free and can be reserved through this link. The breakfast will take place on Wednesday, June 29, from 6:00 - 10:00 a.m.

More information and updates can be found at the event's Facebook page.