As you can see in the video at the beginning of this text, the capital lit a Christmas tree on the Old Town Square on Friday evening.
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Six kilometers of chains of light, several hundred Christmas balls in blue, white and red, and forty stars of light, all hung on eighteen-meter-high Norway spruce, need to be lit up. But it has one catch. The public must not see it.
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The event, which attracts thousands of heads of spectators every year, must remain strictly secret due to Covid-19 and related measures. Government regulations prohibit the grouping of a larger number of people.
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Friday’s lighting was supposed to be a rehearsal, but in the end the town hall left the tree lit. Councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09) told ČTK that the representatives of the city management finally spontaneously decided during the rehearsal that they would no longer spoil the Christmas atmosphere and leave the lights on.
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The Christmas tree was originally supposed to light up sometime on the weekend, at an unspecified time. “Unfortunately, for security reasons, we are forced to organize the lighting of the Christmas tree without the classic accompanying program. I would like to thank all the people of Prague for their responsible approach so far in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic and ask them to understand the complexity of the situation and respect the government’s measures even if the Christmas tree is lit, “said Mayor Zdeněk Hřib before Friday’s lighting.
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This year, people decided on the form of lighting by voting on social networks. The tricolor is intended to commemorate the centenary of the official state symbols, including the national flag.
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Compared to previous years, the tree will have no animation at regular times. The illumination thus returns to the more traditional form of Czech Christmas, when the tree was lit statically. This year, the metropolis will place the second smaller tree on Mariánské náměstí in front of the New Town Hall of the City of Prague.
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The epidemic situation will probably not allow the organization of traditional Christmas markets and the accompanying program, the town hall would like to ensure the placement of at least a few stalls with refreshments.
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