Giant pandas, cartoon characters and bubble makers will get the boot from Old Town Square

A draft amendment will ban oversized animal costumes and people making bubbles from Prague’s Old Town Square and other locations. This will be in line with promises to reduce what the current City Hall administration calls “visual smog” in the crowded city center.

It is not clear when
City Hall will vote on the amendment to the Street Art Decree, or
when it will take effect. Prague Mayor Zdeněk
Hřib (Pirates) previously said he hoped to
rid the square of begging pandas by the autumn.

The draft decree justifies the ban on the use of giant costumes such as pandas or cartoon characters because it aesthetically distorts the appearance of the city. The proposed change has two parts: a ban on performing in disguises such as animals or characters from movies, TV shows, or computer games, and a ban on performing in disguises that by their dimensions obviously exceed the proportions of an adult.

Prague 1 Mayor Pavel Čižinský (Praha 1 sobě) previously said the decree should be changed so that busking is “something that is at least a little artistic, not a stupid attraction that only pollutes the public space.”

The amendment will also prohibit busking that violates the rights of others with noise or environmental pollution. This includes bubble making. Performers also must not stand where they would block the passage of pedestrians or stand in the entrance to buildings or the metro.

The ban on costumes
will now apply to the entire area of Old Town Square. So far, it only
applied to the northern side. “Any busking activities are
inappropriate there, both aesthetically and for safety,” Culture
Committee Chairman Jan Wolf (United Force for Prague) said,
according to press reports.

A minor concession
is that the space a busker can use will increase from the current 1.5
square meters to 2 meters.

The Lennon Wall has recently become a focus of attention due to inappropriate graffiti, noise and drunken crowds. The city administration and the Knights of Malta, which owns the wall, are working to find a solution to return the wall to its original purpose, separate from the pending amendment on costumes and bubbles.

The draft decree specifies the conditions and places where busking is allowed. It prohibits it, for example, in places where an event is already taking place. It also prohibits street art in cemeteries, health facilities, playgrounds and schools during school hours, or at churches. It does not include Charles Bridge, as that has its own rules.