Event date
19 / 07 / 2025 - Saturday 19:45
Festival zone
Vltava Relay: Meeting an Angel at the Krumlov Festival
The Vltava Relay is currently transporting water from the sources of the Vltava River to the Prague Castle Riding School. This is being done as part of the National Heritage Institute's project VLTAVA Famous & Navigable, which commemorates the 150th anniversary of the first performance of Bedřich Smetana's symphonic poem Vltava.
The Vltava Relay set off on its journey on July 1 from the source of the Vltava River in the Šumava National Park and will culminate on September 4 in the Prague Castle Riding Hall with the opening of the exhibition VLTAVA, Famous & Navigable. During the relay, personalities associated with the Vltava River will pass water in a special glass capsule. There will be about fifty handovers and hundreds of partial activities, several of which will be held in Český Krumlov during the 34th Krumlov Festival.
One of the Krumlov water handovers will take place on Saturday, July 20. The relay program will begin with a circle on the Český Krumlov bridges over the Vltava River and end at St. Vitus Church. Before 5 p.m., the Schwarzenberg Grenadier Guard will march from the 2nd courtyard of the castle to the so-called Kirchparad. The guardsmen will end their procession in the Church of St. Vitus Cathedral, one of the festival's major concert venues, where organ concerts are held, and they will hand it over to Český Krumlov prelate Václav Pích, who will celebrate mass from 5:30 p.m., together with České Budějovice Bishop Vlastimil Kročil.
After the mass, the relay will head to the church tower gallery, from where it will be carried by an angel to the castle tower gallery on a stretched rope, 250 m long and 2.5 cm wide, 70 meters above the river. This will happen just before the concert Spanish Night: Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, which starts at 8:30 p.m. in the Brewery Garden. The audience will enjoy not only a musical experience performed by guitar master Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, flamenco dancer Virginie Delgado, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra with top conductor Diego Martine-Etxebarrio, winner of the international conducting competition in Tokyo. If they look up before 8 p.m., they will see that an angel is guarding them.
The castellan of the castle, Pavel Slavko, will receive the water from the angel in the castle tower. The heart activity of God's creation will be monitored and commented on by a cardiologist from the Český Budějovice hospital during the historic and extremely demanding sporting performance. The Kastelán will then deposit the capsule in the castle's Máselnice, where the exhibition Vltava River – Three Stories can be viewed.
You can learn more about the project, which is organized by the National Heritage Institute in cooperation with partners, on the website vltava2025.cz. And you can follow the festival events on festivalkrumlov.cz.
One of the Krumlov water handovers will take place on Saturday, July 20. The relay program will begin with a circle on the Český Krumlov bridges over the Vltava River and end at St. Vitus Church. Before 5 p.m., the Schwarzenberg Grenadier Guard will march from the 2nd courtyard of the castle to the so-called Kirchparad. The guardsmen will end their procession in the Church of St. Vitus Cathedral, one of the festival's major concert venues, where organ concerts are held, and they will hand it over to Český Krumlov prelate Václav Pích, who will celebrate mass from 5:30 p.m., together with České Budějovice Bishop Vlastimil Kročil.
After the mass, the relay will head to the church tower gallery, from where it will be carried by an angel to the castle tower gallery on a stretched rope, 250 m long and 2.5 cm wide, 70 meters above the river. This will happen just before the concert Spanish Night: Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, which starts at 8:30 p.m. in the Brewery Garden. The audience will enjoy not only a musical experience performed by guitar master Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, flamenco dancer Virginie Delgado, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra with top conductor Diego Martine-Etxebarrio, winner of the international conducting competition in Tokyo. If they look up before 8 p.m., they will see that an angel is guarding them.
The castellan of the castle, Pavel Slavko, will receive the water from the angel in the castle tower. The heart activity of God's creation will be monitored and commented on by a cardiologist from the Český Budějovice hospital during the historic and extremely demanding sporting performance. The Kastelán will then deposit the capsule in the castle's Máselnice, where the exhibition Vltava River – Three Stories can be viewed.
You can learn more about the project, which is organized by the National Heritage Institute in cooperation with partners, on the website vltava2025.cz. And you can follow the festival events on festivalkrumlov.cz.
