Even in a small town, neighbors like to slow down, say the organizers of neighborhood festivities from Hořice

Neighbors Aka Stuchlíková and Kateřina Šaršonová organized Zažít město jinak in Hořice in Podkrkonoší for the first time this year. And they succeeded more than brilliantly. They involved neighbors across age and social groups, and everyone enjoyed a beautiful day and a lively public space. What did they struggle with the most, and how did this year’s theme, Slow Down, help them?

What made you want to start organizing neighborhood festivals?

Aka: I experienced the festivities a few times in Prague, and after moving to Hořice, I thought to myself, why not try it here? Then I once talked to Kačka on the playground, she liked the idea and pushed me to go for it.

Kateřina: My husband and I have been organizing neighborhood welders in our street before Christmas for several years. And they are very pleasant meetings. So I liked Aky’s idea. So that the city’s people live in a different way than on social networks so that the public space is revived and people meet in it. I suggested to Ace that we could try to organize Zažít město jinak and introduce the city management.

And what did you go there with?

Aka: With the idea of ​​reviving a somewhat forgotten space and sparking a community. We went there at the last minute, about a week before the closing of applications. We were waiting to see how the city would react.

Kateřina: The city liked the idea of ​​Zažít město jinak, it supported us from the beginning and so we managed to submit the application.

Did the city help you in any way?

Kateřina: The city has become an official partner. We thought that it would be easier to prepare the celebration in a small town than, for example, in Prague. But the bureaucracy around it was difficult, I have to admit.

Aka: We had to write applications for everything. We wanted to include the “pool” under the Hus monument, i.e. a memorial, in the festivities. Streams of water originally flowed from the statue into the aforementioned pool, but this has not been the case for a long time. The statue was reconstructed this year, but the pool is still in a rather dismal state. So we had to deal with the preservationists and write other requests and promise that nothing would happen to the statue itself. The preservationist finally nodded, we protected the statue with a fabric garland and we managed to make a sandpit in the pool.

Temporary sand pit with conservation permit

So you don’t recommend including monuments?

Katerina: Not again. We wanted to, but it was more paperwork and negotiations. Only later did we learn from the old residents that earlier various community events were held at the monument and people gathered there.

Aka: The statue is now repaired, but otherwise the place is more of a walk-through and it’s a shame. There were a few broken benches, which were repaired before the Zažít město jinak event, but otherwise, it’s a patch of land that no one lingers on.

Did anything else surprise you during the preparation?

Aka: Probably the fact that you agree on something with someone and then it’s different. The traffic signs were supposed to be placed a week in advance but finally appeared on the morning of the event. Above all, you have to have the papers in order, during the actual implementation, you rely more on relationships with specific people. So we used at least your leaflets to notify about the event, which we placed behind the wipers of parked cars, and in the final, there was no problem with that.

Kateřina: Reality is simply different than on paper. Since it was the first time we held such a big event here, it surprised us a little. We will know for the next years.

Aka: But we had arranged for the bike ride with the city police, who accompanied her, and they were prepared exactly according to the agreement and cooperated beautifully with us.

Did you want to draw attention to some deficiencies in the infrastructure by cycling?

Aka: Was driving through the local high street which normally has heavy and sometimes wild traffic. Our goal is to make Zažít město jinak right here. Trucks, tractors with logs, mixers with concrete, and a cyclist or a disabled person in a wheelchair pass by. At the same time, some shops and cars are often parked on the sidewalk, where you can’t even walk with a stroller. We wanted to point out that it is a natural main artery of the city, which should be calmed down a bit.

Kateřina: Of course, the city knows that, but we wanted to draw attention to the fact that people here would like to use healthier modes of transport.

The bike ride was very popular in Hořice

Aka: We were surprised at how many people went with us. Around 50 people, that’s a lot by local standards. Children on bouncers, families with strollers, elderly people, and disabled people in wheelchairs joined. So it’s about total accessibility.

Your feeling map also addressed the issue of public space…

Aka: A large photographic map of Hořice and the surrounding area has been printed. People could mark places where they like to hang out, or where, on the contrary, they feel uncomfortable or dangerous. Where they lack a drinking fountain or bike racks…

Kateřina: The Local Action Group came up with the idea. We coordinated with them the questions that we would like to appear there, and now all we have to do is evaluate it and then continue to work with the results and move it forward in cooperation with the town hall. The city announced a participative budget, and many things could be improved in this way. The city management is grateful for the constructive feedback.

How did you work with the Slow down theme?

Aka: It helped us a lot. People reacted very nicely to it and it was clear that they really need and like to slow down.

Kateřina: We tried to project it into workshops as well, such as the Slowing down to yourself workshop by physiotherapist Eva Šperková or, for example, How to find peace in the hustle and bustle by psychologist Lucie Klůzová. Such breathing exercises and sets of tips to calm down. Or Spa of the spirit from priestess Eliška Zapletalová.

Aka: Slow down workshops were held in a quiet private garden that a friend made available to us. So it was not a public space, but we thought it was suitable for this purpose.

Spa of the spirit a.k.a. confessional in the park

How long did you prepare such a well-trodden program?

Aka: After applying, we went to your place for the organizers’ meeting, which helped us a lot with practical tips. Like an organizing group on Facebook where you ask and someone gives you advice.

Kateřina: We also really liked the graphics, the posters really stood out from the others with their color and people also praised them.

Aka: The city also helped us a lot, mostly with promotion. When we put up the posters, people started contacting us and offering help with various programs.

Kateřina: Regarding accessibility, we approached our neighbor Mirko Šperek, who is the general secretary of the Czech Paralympic Committee, and created a Paralympic corner with various disciplines for us. We also spoke to his wife, Eva Šperková, who is a holistic physiotherapist and is dedicated to conscious movement of body and mind. Psychologist Lucka called herself.

Aka: In the city, they gave us a tip about a priestess of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, who invented a game for children focused on the monument and the figure of Jan Hus. She then prepared the location of the Spa of the Spirit. She had a chair and a table under a canopy hung from a tree, and people came to talk to her. It was always full. Then she wrote to us that she thanked us very much for involving her, that she did not expect it herself, and how many people came to see her.

Kateřina: The biggest problem we had was fitting it all into the program.

There were also activities for a healthy body

Will you continue your community activities beyond the framework of Zažít město jinak?

Aka: Let’s see what comes out of the feeling map. If, for example, we organize a meeting based on it… One participant of the cycling trip told me that he would like to join our next event, that he also has some ideas… It seems that there are more such people here.

Kateřina: There is quite a lot going on here, but all in a passive way, where you go somewhere and look at something there. We wanted to achieve the activation of people. To try things you don’t normally have time for. Cargo bike, archery, juggling… And it worked nicely.

What would you do differently next time?

Aka: I guess we can divide the tasks better. Now we both solved everything.

Kateřina: I originally thought that I would just help get it started and then Aka would take over. In the end, we did it all together. But we’ll know next time.

And will you do it again next time? Was it worth it?

Aka: Definitely. Feedback is very positive. To this day, people stop me on the street and say how great it was.

Kateřina: Someone keeps saying that next year he will help us with this and that, that he has a band and so on. It was nice that they also contacted us from the school and offered us volunteers from among their students. They helped us transport disabled neighbors for a bike ride and were at various stations during the day.

In Hořice, they also satisfied artistic appetites

What would you say to people who are considering getting into it?

Aka: Definitely communicating with the more experienced. That helped us a lot, hearing from people who are already organizing it for the eighth or tenth time, how they do it. And try to cooperate with the city. There was still a lot of paperwork, but they sincerely tried to help us.

Kateřina: The city also helped us with support and promotion. It is definitely worth contacting local institutions and companies. Cooperation with them can result in a nice program. The local concrete company donated sand for the sandpit, and the local brewery lent us beer sets and a stand…

Weren’t they mad at you at home for spending so much time getting ready?

Aka: We met mostly in the evening after the children had gone to sleep. Only then was it time to deal with the festivities.

Kateřina: The families supported us. My husband had a juggling workshop and Aky’s husband played the guitar, children’s songs like that, and then a concert in the evening.

Aka: Kateřinas´ girls had their tattoo table. My boys helped, for example, with info signs, and painted the sign, and now they keep asking when the next Zažít město jinak will be. The whole family got involved.

Emotional map

Kateřina: I feel that organizing community events makes a lot of sense. Otherwise, even in a small town, high fences separate us and we don’t see each other that much. And if people can get involved, so much the better.

Aka: We are looking forward to next year and wondering what the next theme will be.

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