The real fir tree, located at the bottom of the park, will be decorated in traditional Czech style, inspired by the famous Czech painter Josef Lada, along with Lada's nativity scene. They will light up at 4pm.
A parade of lanterns and a performance by the Osmikvítek Children’s Choir will take place earlier in the day. However, there will be a reduced fee of 1 CZK for those only coming to see the lights from 3pm onwards.
Saint Nicholas in the zoo
Next Thursday, the 5th of December, Prague Zoo will take part in a Czech tradition where people dressed up as Saint Nicholas, the devil and the angel will arrive in Prague Zoo in Troja. They will walk through the zoo, rewarding good children with sweets, and jokingly giving other children, who are not as good as they should be, coal and potatoes. In December, people can also take part in workshops in the zoo, where nice and fun gifts for the animals will be made.
Christmas at the zoo
Visitors will be able to take home the Bethlehem light, which will be at the zoo’s entrance from the 21st to the 25th of December. Prague Zoo’s restaurants and pavilions will be open until 2pm on Christmas Eve, and visitors can leave gifts for the animals, including fruits, vegetables, dry pastry and sponge biscuits, sheets and blankets for the orangutans and soccer balls for the tigers.
After the Christmas activities, there will be a programme for children in the Bororo Reserve, with animals children can pet.
Christmas trees put to good use
Every year, Christmas trees are processed by the zoo, and they are given to many ungulates, such as camels and bison, to eat. Traditionally, however, they are preferred by elephants. So, elephants do not look forward to Christmas Eve, as the rest of the country does, but to the end of the year when they get Christmas trees – their favourite toys and treats in one.
For further information, please visit: https://www.zoopraha.cz/en