58 Best Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic

This experimental theater is based in a market hall, complete with a cavernous bar and bistro bisected by a huge, twisting plywood sculpture. It's worth checking out Jatka78's program online to see what new and often thrilling Czech or European performances are on, from comedy to cabaret to circus.

The most important film festival in the Czech Republic is in an ornate spa town in Western Bohemia. The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ranks with Cannes, Berlin, and Venice among major European festivals. Visitors to the gala, which rolls out in early July, have included Lauren Bacall, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, and Robert De Niro. Founded in 1946 (its 75th anniversary will be in 2021), this is one of the most publicly accessible film festivals around.

Celebrating Roma culture and diversity, the Khamoro World Romani Festival offers music, dance, and film. Romani (Gypsy) bands have become a hot item on the world-music scene, and groups from all over Europe gather in Prague at the end of May for a week of merrymaking. Check out contemporary Roma music, Gypsy jazz, exhibitions, and dance performances, as well as the crowning-glory parade.

Tucked away on a quiet residential street, Kino Aero is one of Prague's best independent movie theaters. It screens a mix of mainstream Hollywood and international fare, indie art-house darlings, and 20th-century cult classics. On-site, there's also a cocktail bar and café, which regularly hosts events ranging from stand-up comedy to film quizzes. Kino Aero is part of a minichain of indie Prague cinemas, along with BIO OKO in Holešovice and Kino Světozor off Václavské náměstí (Wenceslas Square).

Somehow, this former Palace of Culture, built in 1981, has never found a place in people's hearts. The large, functionalist, multipurpose building has several performance spaces that can seat thousands, but overall it has a very sterile feel. Plays (usually musicals), stand-up comedians, circus shows, and more come here. As the largest venue in the city, it also hosts the majority of conferences.

This decommissioned church with a restored organ and frescoes is used by the Prague Symphony Orchestra for chamber concerts and recitals, and it's also a popular venue for music festivals. The baroque altar is actually an elaborate painting on the wall.

Home to the Czech music academy (HAMU), this baroque palace from the 1790s has the large Martinů Hall for professional concerts and a smaller gallery occasionally used for student recitals. The pleasant courtyard sometimes has music in the summer months.

If you want to take the pulse of Prague's contemporary arts scene, get yourself down to MeetFactory. This spot really is too cool for school. Established more than a decade ago by leading Czech modern artist David Černý as a place for cultural and artistic collaboration, the space houses a gallery, concert hall, and theater, so it offers regular art, theater, dance, and music performances. To get here, cross over the railway tracks on a little bridge and keep an eye out for the car sculptures driving up the side of the building.

From amateur to professional, entertainers of all kinds descend on the grounds of a mental health institution for Mezi ploty—the festival "between the fences." The two-day festival has some of the best local bands, plus theater acts and art workshops, but be aware that only nonalcoholic beer can be sold on the grounds. It takes place at the end of May or beginning of June and aims to raise awareness of issues concerning mental illness.

Statues representing Drama and Opera rise above the riverfront side entrances to this theater, and two gigantic chariots flank figures of Apollo and the nine Muses above the main façade. The performance space lacks restraint as well: it's filled with gilding, voluptuous plaster figures, and plush upholstery. The idea for a Czech national theater began during the revolutionary decade of the 1840s. In a telling display of national pride, donations to fund the plan poured in from all over the country, from people of every socioeconomic stratum. The cornerstone was laid in 1868, and the "National Theater generation" who built the neo-Renaissance structure became the architectural and artistic establishment for decades to come. Its designer, Josef Zítek, was the leading neo-Renaissance architect in Bohemia. The nearly finished interior was gutted by a fire in 1881, and Zítek's onetime student Josef Schulz saw the reconstruction through to completion two years later. Today, it's still the country's leading dramatic stage.

Guided tours in English (for groups only) can be arranged by phone or email in advance.

Named after a famous 18th-century patron of the arts, this ensemble has won a few prestigious awards. They give excellent performances of works by Mozart and Czech composers, and are one of the better groups to appear in various church concerts around town. The group does not have a website but you can track them down through their Facebook page.

Formerly the Sazka Arena (tickets are still sold through Sazka Ticket), this indoor sports venue often hosts big-time rock and pop acts, like Justin Bieber and The Cure. It's also the current home of local ice hockey legends, Sparta Praha. The security level is very high, and almost airportlike. A small nail file or pocket scissors can delay your entrance.

The main concert hall, a true art nouveau gem named after composer Bedřich Smetana, is home to the Prague Symphony Orchestra and many music festivals. A few smaller halls, all named for famous figures, host chamber concerts. Tours of the building are also offered. It's well worth a visit, even if you only pop your head in.

The One World Human Rights Festival could be handily subtitled "films that will make you think." It showcases work dedicated to human rights and other social and political issues, offering a glimpse of the world through a filmmaker's eye along with many post-screening director chats and workshops. The festival runs for 10 days in March at various Prague theaters, usually including Lucerna, Světozor, and Atlas, before heading out to 35 other cities in the Czech Republic. Nearly all films are in English or with English subtitles.

Founded in 1994, this orchestra is youthful and forward-thinking in more ways than one, boasting a chief conductor (Jakub Hrůša) who was born in 1981 as well as a program which aims to send listeners home with, as they put it, a new "joie de vivre." Their work ranges from classic and romantic to contemporary composers and a children's concert series. The group play regularly, including at the Rudolfinum and Prague Castle.

Famous for playing often (but not always) without a conductor, this ensemble covers the classics up through 20th-century composers. Usually they play about four concerts a year in the Rudolfinum.

There's a limited amount of English-language theater in Prague throughout the year. But in May and June, the Czech capital is awash with comedians, actors, dancers, musicians, mime artists, and all manner of other performers from all over the world. Since its inception in 2002, the Prague Fringe has become a major date on the fringe festival circuit, attracting visiting acts from the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and all over Europe. The venues are scattered around Malá Strana; performances, which range from Shakespeare to avant-garde cabaret, are staggered so that you could conceivably see five a day.

One of the largest film festivals in Central Europe, with hundreds of screenings in Prague and its sister festival in Slovakia, Febiofest runs for about a week at the end of March and beginning of April. Films—both premieres and retrospectives—come from virtually all over the world, and a number of renowned directors and stars come to introduce their work. As a side to the festival, world-music bands also perform for free in the garage of the multiplex where the festival is held.

Since 1946, the Prague Spring International Music Festival has been the main event of the classical season. It officially starts in early May with a performance of Czech composer Bedřich Smetana's Ma vlást (My Country)—May 12 is the anniversary of his death—and runs until early June, with typically around 60 concerts spread over more than 10 venues during this time. Conductors such as Leonard Bernstein and Sir Charles Mackerras have been among the guests. Orchestra performances, operas, and church recitals make up the bulk of the schedule, although the gala increasingly features hot international jazz talents. The competition element gives attendees the opportunity to see the next big star. Major events can sell out months in advance; tickets usually go on sale mid-December. If you miss the big one, don't despair—the festival does have a younger brother taking place later in the year: the Prague Autumn.

Two members of the quartet were born in the same town as composer J. V. Stamic, so they chose this name. The group often plays some Britten and Bártok along with the usual classics and Czech composers.

With the most ornate interior of any venue in Prague, this theater has more than a touch of Phantom of the Opera. Marble sculptures support the loges, and a fresco adorns the ceiling. The building started life as the German Theater in 1887 and has undergone several name changes since, and recently reemerged, like a butterfly from its chrysalis, from several years of renovations. It's a spectacular place to see quality opera, despite its slightly unfortunate position overlooking one of Prague's busiest roads.

A creative hub that in some ways defies description, combining theater, dance, teaching, artists' studios, and a "living room" café. Alta is an artistic, exciting place to spend a few hours or take in some cutting-edge contemporary dance.

If you want to join the theater-loving masses and there's nothing on in English, Švanda Theater is your best bet. The plays shown here—a rotating mix that can include everything from Shakespeare to Ibsen to contemporary theater—are supertitled above the stage in English. The theater also occasionally hosts live concerts and serves as a major venue for the Prague Pride festival, held every August.

For the best view, sit in the balcony, on the right side, facing the stage.

Prague's central art-house cinema has a great location near the Lucerna shopping passage and an excellent selection of offbeat American films, classic European cinema, and the best of new Czech films. Many films are subtitled in English and the theater even has its own brand of beer.

The domestic Czech and European dance scenes are celebrated at the Tanec Praha International Festival of Contemporary Dance and Movement. Lasting for around three weeks every June, renowned companies from all over the world strut their stuff in a selection of Prague venues.

Rockers, this festival is for you! Located on the peaceful, pretty islands of the Vltava, an often underutilized aspect of Prague, the festival brings international rock, blues, and world-music acts to several waterside venues for a weekend at the beginning of June, and entry is free. In the evenings performances by additional bands take place in nearby clubs.

Part of the fascinating Lucerna complex, the Great Hall is a beautiful art nouveau ballroom with a big main floor and some loges. It hosts everything from swing dances to graduation balls, Czech and international rock and pop stars to Christmas concerts, and even the occasional boxing match, in wonderful historic surroundings. Everyone from Ray Charles to Maurice Chevalier has played here, so soak up the history as you sway to the beat.

Many quartets borrow names from composers, but few choose the name of a musician: Wihan was a cellist who knew Dvořák. The quartet has won numerous awards since it started in 1985, and has participated in international broadcasts. Most of their sets include at least one Czech composer.