On 5 October 2026 the Czech Republic marked the 90th anniversary of the birth of Václav Havel, among other things with the unveiling of a memorial plaque in the Senate and a video by former US President Bill Clinton for Czech Radio.
On 5 October 2026, 90 years had passed since the birth of Václav Havel, the first president of the independent Czech Republic and a former president of Czechoslovakia. The anniversary was marked in the Czech Republic with a number of commemorative activities, including the unveiling of a memorial plaque in the Senate and a video by former US President Bill Clinton published by Czech Radio [1].
Commemoration in the Senate
At the unveiling of the memorial plaque in honour of Václav Havel in the Senate, Dagmar Havlová recalled her late husband [1]. Former president Miloš Zeman and the chairman of the STAN movement Vít Rakušan also commented on the anniversary on social networks [1].
Bill Clinton's video
Bill Clinton recorded a short video for Czech Radio in which he remembers Václav Havel as his friend and, in his words, one of the most inspiring leaders he ever worked with [1]. In the recording he said he was grateful for the opportunity to support Czech democracy of that time [1]. At the end of the video he played the song "Happy Birthday to You" on the saxophone and wished Havel well with the words "All the best, my friend" [1].
The 1994 gift of a saxophone
In the video Clinton also mentioned his visit to Prague in 1994, when Havel took him to the Reduta jazz club and gave him a saxophone made in the Czech Republic [1]. Clinton then played the pieces "Summertime" and "My Funny Valentine" on it [1]. He reacted to this memory by saying that thirty years had passed before he returned to the same place and that he still thinks of Havel, of his kindness and of the moments they spent together [1].
Related articles: Bill Clinton, Old Town Hall, Senate of the Czech Republic, Signal Festival, Václav Havel, Václav Havel Airport Prague
Chronology
- — A memorial plaque to Václav Havel was unveiled in the Senate of the Czech Republic on the 90th anniversary of his birth, and Senate President Miloš Vystrčil said on the occasion that Havel's criticism of the immoral conduct of the powerful remains relevant for today's politicians. FORUM 24 ČTK / České noviny
- — Czechia marked the 90th anniversary of the birth of Václav Havel; Czech Radio published a video by former US President Bill Clinton, in which he recalls Havel. FORUM 24
- — The Czech Republic marked the 90th anniversary of Václav Havel's birth with exhibitions, conferences, radio broadcasts and Signal Festival installations, including at the Prague airport that bears his name. Český rozhlas Sever (Ústí, Karlovy Vary) iROZHLAS
- — Cultural events and debates are being held in Prague and other cities for the 90th anniversary of Václav Havel's birth; memorial plaques are to be unveiled in the Senate of the Czech Republic and on a house in Dejvice where Havel lived in the 1970s. ČTK / České noviny Pražský deník
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Further commemorations: the airport, Signal Festival and a conference
In addition to the unveiling of the memorial plaque in the Senate, other events took place for the 90th anniversary of Václav Havel's birth.
Exhibitions at the airport
Václav Havel Airport Prague prepared three exhibitions. The Art Zone gallery by the observation terrace presents Havel in photographs by 25 Czech authors: 80 large-format printed pictures and more than 100 further photographs. According to curator Dan Materna of the organisation Czech Photo, they show Havel as a dissident, as president and as a person in everyday situations. The exhibition runs until 31 January.[2] The exhibition Václav Havel's Prague, prepared with the Presidential Library, shows 18 places in Prague connected with his life. The third exhibition, prepared with the Polish Institute in Prague, is devoted to Havel's relationship with Poland and is located behind the central security check at Terminal 2.[2] The airport also placed Havel's publications in Czech and English in its libraries for lending and prepared tours commemorating Havel for Sunday 4 October 2026.[2]
Signal Festival installations
Signal Festival joined the anniversary with two installations inspired by Havel's essay The Power of the Powerless. The video mapping Living in Truth on the facade of the Old Town Hall was created by the Ukrainian artist Svitlana Reinish with the composer Anton Dehtiarov. In the courtyard of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows there is the installation What Are You Responsible For by the student Karolína Schulzová, made of light panels with statements about passivity. Both installations are free to visit, and the second is to be seen after the end of the festival also on Korzo Národní during the November celebrations of the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.[3][4] Part of the festival conference Signal Forum is the panel Dare to Dream, which draws on Havel's intellectual legacy.[3]
Conference on the Václav Havel Prize
The fourteenth international conference in honour of the laureate of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize was held in Prague. The laureate for 2026 is the Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. The conference, on the theme The Weight of the Word, offered the stories of imprisoned laureates and contributions from experts. Participants included, for example, the Russian teacher and author of the documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin Pavel Talankin and the Belarusian opposition politician Maryia Kalesnikava.[5]
Miloš Vystrčil's speech at the unveiling of the plaque
The President of the Senate Miloš Vystrčil (ODS) said at the ceremonial unveiling of the memorial plaque in the Senate on 5 October 2026 that Havel's criticism of the immoral behaviour of the powerful and their lack of self-reflection is relevant for today's politicians as well. In his view they should use their advantages to serve citizens and resist turning into arrogant celebrities. Vystrčil quoted from Havel's speech in Copenhagen in 1991 that politics places heightened demands on moral sense, the capacity for critical self-reflection and genuine responsibility. He said that today's politicians should read the speech again, some of them several times, without naming anyone.[6][7]
The plaque is placed on a wall near the sala terrena in the Wallenstein Garden, and it bears words carved from Havel's speech during his first visit to the Senate in 1997: the upper chamber should be a respected forum of wise people who think of the long-term interests of the state and place them above personal, party or group interests. The unveiling took place as part of the commemorations of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Senate.[6][7]
Dagmar Havlová said that her husband believed that even in an unfree time it makes sense to tell the truth, and that his legacy should be not only part of history but also the conscience of his contemporaries.[6][7]
The exhibition How to Touch the Sky and other Prague commemorations
The exhibition How to Touch the Sky by Barbora Šlapetová and Lukáš Rittstein was opened on 5 October 2026, the day of the 90th anniversary of Havel's birth, in front of the Industrial Palace in the grounds of Výstaviště Praha. Pražský deník describes it as a tribute to Václav Havel. It is open free of charge until 18 October 2026. According to the description of the exhibition, Václav Havel is a participant in the modern art happening Transfer, which forms part of its film section.[8][9] Rittstein invited people to an evening celebration of what would have been Havel's ninetieth birthday; Petr Nikl was to appear there with a performance accompanied by the music of Ivan Acher.[9]
Other Prague commemorations on 5 October
According to Pražský deník, on the day of the anniversary at 9 o'clock the Prague City Hall presented a tram marked "for the Havel 90 anniversary" at the Planetárium Praha stop. At Prague Castle the multi-genre festival Havel Alive began, which is to last until January; no event was planned there for 5 October.[9]
Programme of commemorations on 5 October 2026 outside the Senate
An overview of events for the anniversary was published by the website Havel90, which is run by the Dagmar and Václav Havel Vize 97 Foundation and the Presidential Library.[10][11] Commemorative events were held across the country from the weekend of 3 and 4 October 2026. On Saturday the event From Trutnov to Hrádeček took place, organised by Memory of Nations and the Network of Active Citizens Hradec Králové, and in Zlín people met at Václav Havel's Bench.[10]
Towns outside Prague
According to the programme, on 5 October in Pardubice the Divadlo Exil was to hold from 17:00 a discussion with the composer and politician Michael Kocáb and then stage Havel's Audience. At the same time a discussion with the philosopher Daniel Kroupa took place in Nové Město na Moravě. Pardubice also offered a public reading of Havel's work and the concert Tchaikovsky for Havel, and in Plzeň short reflections by 90 people were heard. In Brno a special tram could be seen for the anniversary and the Goose on a String Theatre prepared an all-day programme including the opening of the archive of the Centre for Experimental Theatre.[10]
Prague
The Prague 6 district was to unveil at 12:00 a memorial plaque on the house in the street U Dejvického rybníčku, where Havel lived in the 1970s with his wife Olga.[10][11] At the Presidential Library a week of cultural and debate events began, and at Pražská křižovatka the Vize 97 Prize in memoriam Václav Havel was awarded.[10][11] From 16:30 Prague 6 launched the Havel90 project at Vítězné náměstí with the opening of the exhibition Dear Fellow Citizens, featuring photographs by Oldřich Škácha accompanied by Havel's quotations. From 17:00 the Institute of Czech Literature of the Czech Academy of Sciences held at Florenc a conference Václav Havel and the Thirty-Sixers about the group of young creators that Havel founded with the poet Jiří Paukert-Kuběna in 1952.[10][11]
Other exhibitions can also be seen. The light installation Truth and Love by Michal Škapa on Mariánské náměstí will last until 25 October, and the outdoor exhibition on the street Na Příkopě on the history of the Havel family from the mid-17th century until 14 October. The Czech News Agency opened on 6 October at the Fragment Gallery an exhibition of photographs from Havel's life, and the exhibition in the Prague Castle Riding School about the objects with which Havel surrounded himself during his presidency runs from 7 October to 17 January.[10][11]
Programme of commemorations on 5 October 2026
Most events for what would have been Václav Havel's ninetieth birthday were, according to the Czech News Agency, to take place on Monday 5 October 2026, when the first post-November president would have celebrated a round anniversary. Commemorative events had been taking place across the country since the preceding weekend. An overview of them was published by the website Havel90, which is run by the Dagmar and Václav Havel Vize 97 Foundation and the Presidential Library.[10][11]
Memorial plaques
At 10:30 the President of the Senate Miloš Vystrčil was to present, together with Dagmar Havlová, in the Wallenstein Palace a memorial plaque with a quotation from Havel's speech during his first visit to the Senate in 1997. The Prague 6 district was to unveil at 12:00 a memorial plaque on the house in the street U Dejvického rybníčku, where Havel lived in the 1970s with his wife Olga.[10][11][12]
Debates and afternoon programme
At the Presidential Library a week of cultural and debate events was to begin, with themes ranging from democracy and totalitarianism to information wars, artificial intelligence and the media. At Pražská křižovatka the Vize 97 Prize in memoriam Václav Havel was to be awarded, intended for thinkers whose work goes beyond the usual boundaries of scholarship.[10] From 16:30 the Prague 6 district was to launch the Havel90 project at Vítězné náměstí with the opening of the exhibition Dear Fellow Citizens, with photographs by Oldřich Škácha and quotations from Havel's texts. From 17:00 the Institute of Czech Literature of the Czech Academy of Sciences was to hold at Florenc a conference Václav Havel and the Thirty-Sixers about the literary group that Havel co-founded in 1952 with the poet Jiří Paukert-Kuběna.[10][11] Prague Castle is holding from October to January the festival Havel ALIVE! with debates, films, concerts and educational programmes.[10]
Trams and theatre
Prague councillors were to present at 9:00 at the Planetárium Praha stop a tram for the Havel anniversary. A special tram is also to run in Brno, and passengers will meet characters from Havel's plays in it. The Goose on a String Theatre in Brno planned an all-day programme, which was to include opening the archive of the Centre for Experimental Theatre, readings from Havel's essays and a debate of journalists with writers.[10][11]
Exhibitions
Václav Havel Airport Prague marks the anniversary with three exhibitions: photographs by 25 authors in the Art Zone gallery, the exhibition Václav Havel's Prague with 18 places connected with his life, prepared with the Presidential Library, and an exhibition on Havel's relationship with Poland at Terminal 2.[11] On Mariánské náměstí there is until 25 October a light installation by Michal Škapa with the motif Truth and Love. The outdoor exhibition on the street Na Příkopě maps until 14 October the Havel family from the mid-seventeenth century. The Czech News Agency was to open on 6 October at the Fragment Gallery an exhibition presenting Havel through the eyes of its press photographers. The exhibition in the Prague Castle Riding School about the objects with which Havel surrounded himself during his presidency is to begin on 7 October and last until 17 January.[11]
Other towns
On Saturday 3 October 2026 the event From Trutnov to Hrádeček took place, organised by Memory of Nations and the Network of Active Citizens Hradec Králové. In Zlín people gathered at Václav Havel's Bench. For Sunday 4 October a meeting was announced in Liberec and in Pardubice, where the Divadlo Exil was to offer at 17:00 a discussion with the composer Michael Kocáb and a staging of Havel's Audience, and at the same time a discussion in Nové Město na Moravě with the philosopher Daniel Kroupa. Pardubice will also offer a public reading of Havel's work and the concert Tchaikovsky for Havel, and in Plzeň short reflections by 90 people are to be heard. On 18 December 2026 it will be fifteen years since Havel's death.[10]
Sources
- Forum 24 — 5 October 2026
- Pražský deník
- Pražský deník
- Deník N
- ČT24
- FORUM 24 — 5 October 2026
- ČTK / České noviny — 5 October 2026
- Pražský patriot — 5 October 2026
- Pražský deník
- ČTK / České noviny — 5 October 2026
- Pražský deník — 5 October 2026
- ČTK / České noviny — 5 October 2026