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800 Candles on the Cake; Celebrations Full of History, Joy, and New Opportunities

Close your eyes. What will you wish for? An adventurous journey into the past, dancing at a royal ball, and waking up as a queen? An exciting present, a night as a rock star, the race of your life? A glimpse into a creative future?

Take a deep breath. Then blow. There are 800 candles on the cake, so your children, school friends, the neighbour across the street, your grandparents, or the lady you buy bread from every week can all make a wish too. Blow together, properly.

Hradec Králové is turning 800 and will be granting wishes to all its kings and queens. A year-long celebration awaits us, grand and diverse, yet also small and intimate. We will delve into the city’s roots, experience shared moments full of personal stories and new connections. We will encounter surprising and unique events that will link previously unknown parts of the city and bring us all together in a single moment. While exploring the past, every step we take will also be a step forward toward the Hradec Králové we envision for the next 50 or even 800 years.

The Hradec Králové celebrations are not the work of agencies but of those who are already shaping the city today. Local organizers have prepared nearly 80 cultural, social, sports, and educational events combining what we love with what is just beginning. Favourite events will take place in unconventional settings, familiar scenery will give space to new ideas. The sky, forests, bike paths, and even the airport will come alive, along with theatres, museums, galleries, the cathedral, and the city square. Places we know well will open up to new perspectives, meetings, and inspirations. Important historical figures, milestones, personal stories, and modern visions of the city's future will be revived.

Hradec Králové 800 is an opportunity to experience events that are an inseparable part of our urban life, to draw from the stories of past generations, and to get excited about what lies ahead. The celebrations are a chance to honour traditions while pushing boundaries, discovering new paths and connections, and exploring new dimensions of urban identity. Above all, it is about joy. Because joy is the most essential ingredient of any celebration.

Blow, properly. Then open your eyes and let’s celebrate.