Festival invites visitors to “travel around the world in a day”

A great way to spend part of the upcoming weekend is being offered by the district of Prague 9: the Vibrant Nine festival, taking place at Podvíní Park. Focussing on diversity and multiculturalism, the event will allow attendees to visit 20 countries in just one day.

Vibrant Nine festival

Organizers have prepared a program for all age groups that includes concerts, dancing, theatre, and games for children. Visitors will be able to take part in various workshops which will temporarily transport them to a slew of different countries. On offer will be workshops in “origami” - the traditional Japanese art of paper-folding - as well as calligraphy, Tibetan shirt printing, and classical Chinese martial arts practice under the supervision of experienced masters. Veronika Šíblová, a member of the production team, revealed some of the highlights:

“The Vibrant Nine is an opportunity for people of many nationalities living in Prague and the whole Czech Republic to meet up and share specifics of foreign cultures, taste exotic cuisine and personally enjoy the atmosphere of cultures of many continents. We also have a musical program. The most important bands which are performing are Son caliente –from Cuba – and we have a cosmopolitan electro jazz formation Alvik, also. Son Caliente starts at 7 pm and Alvik at 9 pm.”

Participants on Saturday will be able to try assorted delicacies from countries as far off as Afghanistan, Angola, and China, or Georgia, Russia, and Vietnam, to name a few. Connoisseurs will be able to sample wines from South Africa, Bulgaria and Moldavia. A tea room with water pipes (hookahs) will probably be highly-appreciated by tea fans.

Besides the town district office, the People in Need foundation and Centrum Dialog are also participating in the program. A photo exhibition named “Water over Gold” installed in the Prague 9 town hall emphasizes the importance of better water supplies in Ethiopia. Alžběta Jungrová, the author of the photographs, said she had travelled across Ethiopia to find a place where the lack of clean drinking water was the most serious:

Vibrant Nine festival

“I spent four weeks, nearly five weeks there. I took about 25 thousand pictures from which we afterwards selected about 75. Actually, it was my second visit of Ethiopia. The most surprising for me was how everything has changed since my first trip four years ago. After every trip and every journey I undertook, I found myself valuing everything much more, especially living in Europe.”

The Vibrant Nine festival taking place at Podvíní Park on Saturday starts at 2 pm and closes by 10 pm.