The Sound Arrives Before You’re Ready
The first time I heard ‘Vltava’ performed live, it wasn’t in a concert hall. It was leaking out of an open window somewhere near the Rudolfinum, a few bars carried on the river breeze while I was trying to find the box office. That’s the thing about the Prague Spring International Music Festival — the music finds you before you find it.
Since 1946, this three-week festival has anchored the global classical music calendar. Every May, Prague fills with orchestras, soloists, and conductors performing in venues that are themselves the point. The Rudolfinum. The Municipal House. Churches where the stone walls have been absorbing sound for four hundred years. The festival runs from May 12 to June 3, 2026, and the opening date isn’t arbitrary — it’s the anniversary of Bedřich Smetana’s death, a detail that matters more than you’d expect once you’re actually there.
May 12: Wreaths and a River in D Major
The festival opens the same way every year. A procession walks to Vyšehrad — the ancient fortress perched above the river — and lays wreaths at Smetana’s grave. Then the Czech Philharmonic performs his ‘Má vlast’ (My Country) at the Rudolfinum’s Dvořák Hall. The whole cycle, six symphonic poems, no intermission.
The most famous movement is ‘Vltava,’ which traces the river from mountain springs through countryside, past castles and villages, and into Prague itself. You’ve probably heard it even if you don’t know classical music — it shows up in film soundtracks constantly. But hearing it in Dvořák Hall, with the actual river visible through the windows during intermission, is a different thing entirely.
Smetana wrote the piece while going deaf. By the time the cycle premiered, he couldn’t hear it at all. He spent his last years in an asylum. The festival that now bears his name has outlasted the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Nazi occupation, and four decades of communist rule. None of this is mentioned during the concert. It doesn’t need to be.
Where the Music Happens
Part of what makes Prague Spring worth the trip is the venues. You’re not sitting in a generic modern concert hall — you’re inside buildings that are themselves the attraction.
Dvořák Hall (Rudolfinum)
The neo-Renaissance Rudolfinum sits on the Vltava embankment. Dvořák Hall seats about 1,100 — small enough that you feel connected to the stage, large enough that the acoustics do what they’re supposed to. The ornate ceiling is worth staring at during the slow movements. This is the Czech Philharmonic’s home and the festival’s primary venue.
Smetana Hall (Municipal House)
The Obecní dům is an Art Nouveau building from 1912, decorated by Alfons Mucha and others. Smetana Hall has a glass dome and allegorical murals covering every surface. Honestly, it’s almost distracting — you find yourself looking at the ceiling when you should be listening. That’s not really a complaint.
Prague Castle
Several concerts take place within Prague Castle, one of the largest castle complexes in the world. The Spanish Hall and St. Vitus Cathedral are the main spaces. Cathedral acoustics can be unpredictable — sometimes that’s part of the experience, sometimes it’s frustrating. Depends on where you sit and what’s being performed.
Churches
Smaller performances fill Prague’s Baroque churches — St. Nicholas in Malá Strana, St. Simon and Jude, and others. These are often the most memorable concerts of the festival, partly because the acoustics in stone churches do extraordinary things to chamber music, partly because tickets are easier to get. Various palace halls and gardens also host recitals.
What to Expect on the Program
The lineup covers the full range: major international orchestras (Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and London Symphony have all appeared in recent years), solo recitals, chamber ensembles, string quartets. Czech composers beyond Smetana and Dvořák feature prominently — Janáček, Martinů, and contemporary Czech works show up regularly.
Running alongside the festival is the Prague Spring International Music Competition, where young musicians compete in categories that rotate annually. Competition rounds are open to the public and tend to be less crowded than the headline concerts. It’s genuinely interesting to hear performers before anyone else has heard of them.
The full program usually drops a few months before the festival. Check the official Prague Spring website — I’d say around January or February is when serious planning should start, especially for the opening night and any big-name orchestral concerts.
The City in May
Prague in late spring is the city at its best. Warm days, long evenings, green everywhere. The skyline — spires, domes, red rooftops — looks like it was designed specifically for golden hour photography.
Charles Bridge at dawn, before the tour groups arrive. The winding streets of Malá Strana with hidden courtyards behind every other doorway. Old Town Square with the Astronomical Clock (expect crowds, always). The Art Nouveau cafes of Vinohrady, which is where you should eat and drink if you want to avoid the tourist-center markup.
Concerts are mostly in the evening, so days are free. The city is walkable — Castle, Old Town, and Jewish Quarter are all within comfortable range of each other.
The Practical Stuff
Tickets. The opening ‘Má vlast’ sells out fast. Headline orchestral concerts go quickly too. Smaller recitals and church concerts are much easier to get into, and honestly some of the best experiences I’ve heard about come from those.
Cost. Prague isn’t the bargain it was twenty years ago, but it’s still noticeably cheaper than Vienna or Salzburg for comparable events. Good seats at major concerts cost a fraction of what you’d pay at the Salzburg Festival. If you’re flying from Asia, booking flights through Trip.com or CheapAir tends to surface decent fares on European routes — worth comparing against direct airline bookings.
Getting around. Prague’s public transit — metro, trams, buses — is excellent. Get a multi-day pass. Tram 22 is the scenic route that passes most festival venues and major landmarks. It’s also just a pleasant way to get across the city without walking uphill to the Castle.
Dress code. Smarter than casual, less formal than Vienna. Jacket for men, something elegant for women at evening concerts in the Rudolfinum or Smetana Hall. Church concerts and daytime recitals are more relaxed. Nobody will turn you away for wearing the wrong thing, but you’ll feel underdressed in jeans at a Saturday evening orchestral concert.
Food. Prague’s restaurant scene has changed a lot. Beyond traditional Czech dishes (roast duck, svíčková, trdelník — the last one is really more of a tourist thing, but sure), there’s good international dining now. Book post-concert dinner reservations in advance during the festival. Popular places fill up.
Guided experiences. If you want context beyond the concerts — walking tours of the venues, behind-the-scenes at the Rudolfinum, or a broader Prague cultural tour — GetYourGuide and KLOOK both list Prague-specific experiences. I’d browse those mainly for the music-themed or architecture tours rather than the generic sightseeing packages.
Vyšehrad After the Opening
If you’re in town for the May 12 opening, walk to Vyšehrad the morning after. The cemetery where Smetana is buried is quiet — almost weirdly so, given what happened the night before. The fortress grounds have some of the best views of the city, better than the Castle viewpoints in some ways because fewer people know about them.
The connection between that grave and the music that fills Prague for three weeks every spring — I’m not going to try to make it into a metaphor. It just sits with you for a while.
