Czech House aims to connect athletes and fans in Paris
The Czech House in Paris’s La Villette, which will serve as the country’s public hub for the Olympic Games, was officially inaugurated on Friday afternoon by snowboard cross champion Eva Adamczyk. Just before the opening ceremony, I spoke with the centre’s communications manager Daniela Jurion.
“The Czech House is mainly about connecting athletes with fans. They can enjoy the atmosphere together. And also, we don’t want to make it only about Czech sport, but also about Czech culture and gastronomy. So we also offer Czech beer and Czech food, and also we have many Czech performers coming with their international audio-visual shows.”
Can you mention at least some of the highlights on the programme?
“I think the programme is really about watching the athletes and encouraging them. The Olympic programme will be livestreamed, so the fans can come here, watch the programme live and enjoy some Czech food and Czech beer.”
I guess beer is one of the main attractions at the Czech House, not only for Czech fans but also for fans from abroad…
“Exactly. We chose a selection from 16 microbreweries, so every four days there will be eight different beers on tap. In total, fans can taste 32 beers during the whole Olympic period.”
Where it he Czech Olympic House located?
“It is located in the park La Villette. It’s actually now referred to as the Park of Nations, because there are 14 different national houses at the moment. We are located in Cabaret Sauvage, that has a really unique atmosphere of a French cabaret and you can sit both inside and outside.
“We had a chance to be the first to choose form all the places here, and when my colleague Blanka Konečná, who is the director of the Czech House, saw this place, she knew it was exactly what we were looking for.”
The Czech Olympic House will be inaugurated later today by snowboard cross champion Eva Adamczyk. Can you tell more about the event?
“The opening ceremony starts at 4 p.m. We have a show featuring acrobats, the South Bohemian Philharmonic coming and the artistic group Pyroterra with their show.
“There will also be the sculptor David Černý unveiling his statue Věra dedicated to the famous gymnast Věra Čáslavská. This year it will be 60 years since her first medal that she won in Tokyo.”
“So I think the programme is really packed. I can’t really invite anyone anymore because we are sold out but I encourage people to visit us on any other day and enjoy the programme.”
Based on the previous Olympics, how many people do you expect to come?
“The capacity is more than 1,000 people, so I hope we will be sold out every day. Tickets are available both online and in front of the Czech House, but I would recommend everyone to buy them online, because the tickets at the Czech House will only be available if the capacity is not full at the moment.”
