Open House Brno 2024 sees 31,000 visitors
The seventh edition of the popular Brno festival of architecture and urbanism recorded a total of 31,912 visitors, 4,000 more than the previous year. Nearly 2 thousand plays of our podcasts for individual tours were added. The greatest interest was in the AZ Tower, Villa Engelsmann or Carpenter's Villa tours, and from the curatorial plan it was the Elementary and Kindergarten Speech Therapy School in the historic Rohrer's Villa with a modern extension or the Roma Center DROM. The blind could also enjoy a tandem ride on the Brno Velodrom or experience what it is like to stand on the highest building in the Czech Republic.
"I would like to thank all the visitors of the festival whose interest motivates us to innovate the programme and look for other forms of accompanying programme. I was very pleasantly surprised by the interest in venues directly related to this year's themes of inclusion and accessibility. I am convinced that cities should be easily accessible for all their inhabitants, they should be transformed with respect to people with any form of disadvantage. It is inspiring to experience so-called aha moments and to see what can actually be a barrier. I also see the festival as a way to bring people closer to each other, and I am very happy that Open House Brno is succeeding in fulfilling this goal," says Lucie Pešl Šilerová, the creative director of the Culture & Management Association.
In total, this year's edition offered 116 locations, 42 of which were included in various ways in the curatorial intention of Inclusion and Accessibility. People booked entrances to the most desirable locations with the necessary reservations in a matter of seconds; in total, reservations were needed for 48 locations. 76 locations were accessible without reservations, with some of the locations offering guided tours with reservations as well as free individual tours. There were also twenty-two side events such as workshops, lectures, exhibitions and musical performances. Visitors to the festival also experienced the world premiere of Ondřej Kyas's Composition for Electric Guitar and Three Strings performed by the Diversa Quartet. Participants of the weekend event could also evaluate the entire course of the festival in questionnaires. The answers will help the organizers to prepare and improve the next years' events.
"The festival could not take place without the volunteers and the helpfulness of the owners of the individual buildings. One of the biggest owners is the Statutory City of Brno and the institutions owned or managed by it, so we are very grateful to the city for its financial and organizational support and cooperation, and to the Mayor Markéta Vaňková for the patronage she provided to this year's festival. We would also like to thank the CTP company and catering companies for their support and cooperation, which made the festival more enjoyable for our visitors with discounts. We also appreciate the dozens of foreign volunteers from the festivals in Vienna, Tallinn and Dublin and the support of the 14 cities involved in the Open House Europe consortium this year, because sharing experiences is another step towards improving Open House Brno," says festival spokesman Vratislav Vozník.
The next edition will take place on 17-18 May 2025
