IGNIS BRUNENSIS is preparing a programme of events in the centre of Brno for the end of August. There will be no in-competition firework shows at Brno Dam Lake in 2020

All areas of life and all places around the world have been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic this year. Unfortunately, the measures currently in place and the situation in the south of Europe and elsewhere have also been reflected in this year's 23rd IGNIS BRUNENSIS International Firework Festival. "We have been forced to cancel, at least in part, the originally planned dates and programme of events for the period from 29 May to 21 June, though we are seeking possible ways of holding at least certain individual events," said Jiří Morávek, Managing Director of the organising company SNIP & CO, in the name of the principal producer. "In view of the huge numbers of visitors, particularly at the in-competition part of the festival, and the impossibility of limiting free access to the observation areas, it is unrealistic to hold any productions at Brno Dam Lake under the present conditions. An additional fact is that a great deal of pyrotechnical material is made in Italy and Spain, and we are also unable to bring foreign pyrotechnical specialists to the Czech Republic at the present time," added Jiří Morávek in relation to this year's complications. Talks are currently in progress at the international level with pyrotechnists with the aim of holding the event in 2021 with the same foreign teams originally planned for this year.

The IGNIS BRUNENSIS festival is not to miss 2020

The people of Brno and South Moravia and tourists visiting the city will not, however, miss out completely on the popular IGNIS BRUNENSIS festival. The production team is preparing an amended four-day programme to be held in the centre of Brno in the second half of August in co-operation with the City of Brno, the South Moravian Region and other partners. The anticipated dates, if the situation permits, are from Thursday 20 August to Sunday 23 August 2020. One of the items being prepared is a firework show over Špilberk Castle. "We are working on a firework project, which the production team and its partners intend as a way of thanking people in the front line and everyone else for the way in which they are coping with this difficult time. The firework show over Špilberk Castle is planned for 10.30 p.m. on Saturday 22 August," said technical director of IGNIS BRUNENSIS and firework designer Jaroslav Štolba from the company Flash Barrandov SFX.

The organisers are also preparing special content on the internet on the original dates of this year's IGNIS BRUNENSIS firework shows in June, while some of the other events originally planned and a number of special events are also to be held under the name IGNIS - Festival of Fun on various dates from May to September this year depending on the conditions relating to the movement of people, the spaces available and the permitted gathering of people.

Fun Beneath the Castle Walls with a firework show over Špilberk Castle and Transport Nostalgia in August

Transport Nostalgia, with rides in historical public transport vehicles, is to be part of August's IGNIS BRUNENSIS long weekend known as Fun Beneath the Castle Walls (22-23 August). The event is to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the operation of electric trams and 90 years of operation of public transport buses in Brno.

The City of Brno is to lay a symbolic heart in Náměstí Svobody

The motto of this year's Festival of Fun is gratitude for help at this time of the Coronavirus. "We are preparing a symbolic heart in Brno's Náměstí Svobody, to which everyone will be able to attach a message of thanks. There has been a remarkable wave of solidarity that we are seeing today and every day at this time of the pandemic. There have been an extraordinary number of people who have been willing to help with anything that needs doing, no matter whether this means sewing facemasks, caring for aged neighbours or other volunteer activities. Everyone in the front line - doctors, healthcare staff, the emergency services, the police, firefighters, social workers, public transport drivers and shop assistants - has worked with the same level of commitment. I will be delighted if the public has the opportunity of thanking them, at least in this symbolic way," said Mayor of Brno Markéta Vaňková about one of the projects of gratitude prepared by the City of Brno.

The organisers will be amending event dates depending on the development of the situation

The IGNIS BRUNENSIS production team, along with all the producers and organisers of associated events, will be making great efforts to ensure that the events originally prepared take place during the summer on new dates from June to September. We will continue to provide information on all these events here on the web. It is, however, clear that higher powers may interfere with these dates and plans again, so August's dates for our Fun Beneath the Castle Walls may be shifted to September or even October depending on how the situation develops.

Preparations for Summer at the Bishop's Court are continuing

Summer at the Bishop's Court is a traditional part of the programme of events for the IGNIS BRUNENSIS festival, and the eleventh year of the event is to feature theatre performances and concerts beneath Petrov on the grounds of the Moravian Museum produced by the Moravian Museum, Brno City Theatre and SNIP & CO. Performances by Brno City Theatre, the Bolek Polívka Theatre and others are anticipated to begin in the first half of June, with productions continuing until the end of August.

An extraordinary spectacle in the centre of Brno with historical buses and other vehicles in the middle of May

The production team from Brno Technical Museum and IGNIS BRUNENSIS is preparing a special event for Saturday 16 May to support visiting attendance to reopened exhibitions on the occasion of International Museum Day. A column of wheeled vehicles from Brno Technical Museum will be passing through Náměstí Svobody and surrounding streets in the centre of Brno in the afternoon of Saturday 16 May 2020 to delight passers-by, invite them to visit the exhibitions at Brno Technical Museum and remind them of August's Transport Nostalgia.