Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
noviny
(the best-known
samizdat
or underground publication under the Communists and the
equivalent of
The Times
under the First Republic) is now a populist centre-right daily, while
the orange-coloured
Hospodářské noviny
is the Czech equivalent of the
Financial Times
or
Wall Street Journal
.Thecountry'smostpopularnewspaperis
Blesk
(
Lightning
),asensation-
alist tabloid with lurid colour pictures, naked women and reactionary politics. If all you want
is yesterday's (or, more often than not, the day before yesterday's) International sports res-
ults, pick up a copy of the daily
Sport
.
TV and radio
Česká televize's two state-owned
TV channels
, ČT1 and ČT2, have both been eclipsed as
far as ratings go by the commercial channel Nova (best known for its short-lived striptease
weather programme) and, to a lesser extent, Prima, which exists on a diet of dubbed Amer-
ican imports. ČT2 is your best bet for interesting music programmes and foreign films with
subtitles.
On the
radio
the state-run Český rozhlas broadcasts numerous stations including ČR1
(94.6FM), mainly made up of current affairs programmes; ČR2 (91.2FM), which features
more magazine-style programming; and ČR3 Vltava (105FM), a culture and arts station that
plays a fair amount of classical music. The three top commercial channels are Evropa 2
(88.2FM), Rádio Bonton (99.7FM) and Kiss 98 (98.1 FM), which dish out pop music. More
interesting is Radio 1 (91.9FM), which plays a wide range of alternative music.
FESTIVALS
Prague's annual festive calendar is surprisingly light compared with most European
capitals, with just a handful of arts events, in addition to the usual religious festivities
and
public holidays
.
A festival calendar
JANUARY & FEBRUARY
Epiphany(Dentříkrálů)
OnJan6,thelettersK+M+B(forKašpar,MelicharandBaltaz-
ar) followed by the date of the new year are chalked on doorways across the capital to cel-
ebrate the “Day of the Three Kings” when the Magi came to worship Christ.
Masopust or Carnavale (Shrove Tuesday)
The approach of Masopust (the Czech version
of Mardi Gras) is celebrated locally in the Žižkov district of Prague, where there are five
daysofparties,concertsandparades;moremainstreameventstakeplaceundertheumbrella
of Carnevale, in the city centre.
carnevale.cz
