Today in Waterford at Winterval Festival ‘The Gateway to Brno’ will be officially opened by the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Ireland Pavel Vošalík and the Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic, Alan Gibbons as they participate in ‘A Two City Selfie’ moment at Waterford’s Apple Market at 3 pm.
Waterford is celebrating its title as the 'European City of Christmas 2024', while Brno in the Czech Republic is also celebrating its award as 'Capital of Christmas 2024'.
The ‘Gateway to Brno’ is one of the Winterval festival’s hotly anticipated features - a live portal that now connects Waterford to the Czech city of Brno, a fellow European city of Christmas celebration.
Earlier in 2024 each city was awarded with their new titles following an extensive judging process and visits to each city from a European delegation of experts in December 2023. These awards have been facilitated by the European Christmas Cities Network, which aims to promote the cultural European diversity values and especially the different and varied Christmas traditions in Europe, which are transcended to the whole world.
Located in the public Apple Market space, the Dolmen-shaped ‘Gateway to Brno’ offers a real-time live stream, inviting people of different cultures to meet above borders and differences. Bringing together technology, engineering, and art to bring communities from across the world closer together and to allow people to meet and connect outside of their social circles and cultures. The gateway will be open and manned during festival hours.
The Winterval festival is open every weekend from now until December 23rd. The festival programme is packed with ‘over 50 events
Winterval is supported by Waterford City and County Council as well as a host of other local, national, and international businesses, all of whom have a keen interest in Waterford and the Southeast region. For further details on Winterval, see www.winterval.ie
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