Prague begins search for Christmas tree to adorn 2022 market

The Christmas season is still four months away, but Prague is already preparing for annual celebrations. The city has announced a search for the Christmas tree to adorn this year's Christmas market at Old Town Square, and you can net 10,000 crowns by suggesting the winning tree.

This year's Christmas market at Old Town Square will run from Saturday, November 26 through Friday, January 6. In cooperation with Taiko, the company that organizes the market, the city is now running a competition to find the centerpiece tree for this year's edition.

"We believe that the Christmas markets will return to Old Town Square this year, so we are again asking the public to send us their tips for Christmas trees," Taiko spokesperson Hana Tietze says in a press release.

"The winner will become the highlight of this year's Christmas markets in Prague. The person who offers it to us or gives us a tip [on where to find it] it will win ten thousand crowns under the rules of the competition."

Photos and descriptions of potential Christmas trees can be sent to info@taiko.cz through September 30, 2022. The tree can be located on public or private land; those who submit tips don't need to own the land, but the city must be able to ultimately procure the tree.

The ideal tree should be a Norway spruce with uniform branching, and grow to a height of about 23 to 25 meters tall. It will be cut down to 22 meters for placement in Prague's Old Town Square.

Last year's tree was also discovered through the city's competition, as one of about thirty submissions. It came to Prague from a private plot in in the village of Pěnčín in the Czech Republic's Liberec region, and was 54 years old and about 22 meters tall.

Tips for potential trees can include those that would need to be removed for safety reasons, for instance if they are overgrown and pose a threat to their surroundings. All trees selected for placement in Old Town Square over the past eight years had to be cut down for safety reasons.

Potential selections will undergo a health check to ensure they are suitable for placement in Old Town Square. The tree can grow anywhere in the Czech Republic, and doesn't need to be easily accessible by road.

The winning tree will be selected by November 1 and officially unveiled at Prague's Old Town Square during a tree lighting ceremony on November 26.

More information about the competition for this year's tree and other details about Christmas markets in Prague can be found here.