PHOTO GALLERY: Navalis festival revives centuries-old traditions on Charles Bridge

The annual Navalis festival brought skydivers, live music, and a colorful parade to Prague’s Charles Bridge. The event commemorates St. Jan Nepomucký, a Roman Catholic saint who is the patron of waterways.

The renewed version of the festival is now in its 15th year. It takes place on May 15, the eve of the feast day of the saint, who was canonized in 1729. The first Navalis celebration in 1868 was tied to the laying of the foundation stone of the National Theatre.

The festival was popular in the early part of the 20th century, but was not performed under communism due to its religious nature. The revived version of the festival features people in 19th-century dress.

This was the first year that Jan Graubner, who took over as archbishop of Prague in July 2022, presided over the festival.

After a mass at St. Vitus’ Cathedral in Prague Castle, a procession carrying artifacts related to St. Jan, including a statue and other wooden sculptures, went through Malá Strana and stopped on Charles Bridge for prayers and benedictions in front of the statue of St. Jan and at a marker that shows the spot where his body was thrown from the bridge in 1393 after he died from torture. Both of these spots are popular attractions for tourists, who often form lines to touch them.

He and several other priests had been caught up in a dispute with King Wenceslas IV. According to legend, five stars appeared over the water after St. Jan died, and five stars are one of the symbols of this saint.

After the procession, five swimmers went into the Vltava to retrieve large yellow floating stars. This was followed by a skydiver trailing sparks who swooped down and went under one of the arches of Charles Bridge in a breathtaking stunt. Later, a group of five skydivers in lit outfits and trailing sparks would land on a platform in the river.

On the shore, a polka band played traditional Bohemian music while on the water boats including a gondola from Venice sailed around a stage in the water.

Some of the women in the most elaborate Slavic costumes had a hard time leaving the area, as every few steps they had to stop and pose with tourists who wanted pictures. A journey of a few meters took several minutes, but they were in good spirits and laughed at their persistent lack of progress.

The main part of the evening was a concert on a barge in the river. Throughout the concert, boats sailed in a circle while some gas jets shot up flames in time with some of the more upbeat sections of music. In the past, the evening ended with fireworks but that is no longer the case, as the city has been strictly limiting that due to concerns for wildlife and the environment.