Zažít město jinak 2026: Period, Comma, Exclamation Mark — Be a Street Rebel Too!

The Zažít město jinak neighborhood festival, organized by AutoMat and hundreds of local communities, has been transforming streets across the Czech Republic for 20 years. Sometimes just for a day, sometimes permanently. It also transforms the way people think, allowing them to take a step back and see seemingly familiar public spaces from a different perspective. And because, even after more than two decades, we remain playful children at heart, we’ve chosen “Street Mischief” as this year’s theme.

Locations and program Zažít město jinak 2026

Street mischief doesn’t have to mean being naughty. It’s about playfulness, creativity, and the desire to turn public space into somewhere we feel good. A place where we can stop, have a chat, take a break, or come up with something new. It’s a place whose shape and character we can actively help create. We don’t have to simply “silently put up with” streets designed for us by (mostly) men in suits who have spent their entire lives getting around the city exclusively by car. That was precisely the spirit in which AutoMat and the Zažít město jinak festival were created years ago: with a touch of irony, a sense of perspective, a dash of cheekiness, and often in collaboration with artists. So this year, we’re inviting organizers across the country to be a little bit mischievous too.

Creating a mosaic on Kusá Street in Prague 6. Photo: Natálie Rajnišová

Streets as Playgrounds and Galleries

Street mischief can take many forms as part of Zažít město jinak. In one place, a small mosaic of tiles might appear in a crack in the pavement; somewhere else, flowers might bloom where there used to be nothing but a patch of hard-packed dirt or cracked asphalt. Sometimes all it takes is making use of the street’s little imperfections. A pothole in the pavement, for example, can become a game of marbles, with a tournament organized around it.

Your child or grandparent can become a tactical urban planner or guerrilla gardener, too—especially if they need somewhere shady to rest on the way to the shops, put down their bag, and have a drink.

Nusle Steps. Photo: Šimon Fiala

At the Zažít město jinak festivals, “street mischief” initiatives regularly take many different forms. At Nusle Steps, participants took up guerrilla gardening, planting selected flowers throughout the area around the steps. On Na Nivách Street in Michle, festival organizers planted two linden trees, while on Kusá Street in Břevnov, a small mosaic playfully added something new to the pavement. V Holešovičkách Street was transformed into a mural gallery, while the seemingly ordinary Přístavní Street became, fittingly given its name, a bustling harbor full of little boats. In Kutná Hora, children and adults built an entire city out of large foam blocks.

“Hello, is Mirek coming outside?”

Zažít město jinak has a simple rule: if you want to be part of the festival, you have to come outside. Literally, out onto the street. Businesses, community groups and institutions that are normally closed behind doors or may seem somewhat inaccessible open themselves up to everyone for one day. People can visit places they might otherwise never even think to knock on the door of—a printing house for the blind, a facility providing care for seniors, or a church tower, for example.

The street thus becomes a place where different worlds meet. For some people, the street is simply a corridor to be crossed as quickly as possible on the way to work. For others, it is home. We also want to draw attention to these different experiences of the city and give space to people who live on the streets or spend a great deal of time there. The programme at Strossmayerovo Square has traditionally focused on them, as have other locations in the past, including Hlávkův Bridge and Nusle Steps.

Underpass beneath Hlávkův Bridge. Photo: Anna Šolcová

Join the Street Mischief

From the very beginning, the Zažít město jinak festival has taken place as part of the European Mobility Week in September. Rows of parked and moving cars are replaced by space for neighborhood creativity or a chance to discuss current issues affecting the local community.

It’s an opportunity to remind ourselves that all movement around a city is transport and that we need to break the vicious cycle of car-centric thinking. Sometimes, the experiment doesn’t end with the one-day event. Temporary ideas have sparked lasting changes in the past, including more greenery, safer spaces for children, and new community activities.

If you’d like to help the volunteer organizers of Zažít město jinak in your neighborhood, get in touch with them directly. You’ll find their contact details for each location on our Zažít město jinak website.

Opening photo from the U Akademie location, Zažít město jinak 2025