New Years Eve in Prague

New Year’s Eve in Prague isn’t about classy countdowns or overpriced champagne in sterile rooftop bars. It’s chaos, fire and booze—wrapped in medieval architecture and lit by the fuse of post-communist freedom.

The year is about to end and I’m spending the last day in the beautiful gothic capital of Czechia. A few hours ago I stood alone in silence on the northern tip of Strelecky Ostrov, an island in the middle of Vltava, surrounded by the currents of the river. I listened to Moldau by Bedřich Smetana on my iPad, enhancing the flow of the waters. A short distance away was the busy Charles Bridge, which felt like another planet with a steady stream of people passing across the ancient stone valves.

Overlooking the Charles Bridge on New Years Eve.

A few hours later, the chaos arrive. Charles Bridge turns into a battlefield of bottle rockets and amateur fireworks with zero safety regulation and even less reason. The river is lined with firestarters and other pyromaniacs blowing things up. The locals are firing fireworks in all directions, perhaps trying to shoot B-roll material for a Rammstein music video. The air smells of gunpowder and spilled Bohemia Sekt.

Quiet winter morning in the red-roofed Lesser Quarter.

But this was just the warm-up. At midnight, the whole city seems to explode. Not in a controlled, well-rehearsed fireworks display. No, this is Prague. This is anarchic beauty. Tourists duck, locals laugh and the streets are lined with smoke.

Crossing the Charles Bridge at night while the snow gently falls.

I wander through the crowds on the cobblestone streets, past drunken youths in feather boas and Czech grandmas slinging shots of Becherovka from doorways. And yet, there is some kind of beauty to be find in the madness.

Pyrotechnic residue in the mist along the Vltava river.

Stay safe everyone. I wish you all a Happy New Year and Na Zdraví!