inaccessible places in Brno were visited by 2000 people upon their opening

Brno - Over 2000 people visited more than 20 places in Brno today that are usually inaccessible and opened today during the pilot edition of a festival called Open House. Adéla Nováková, spokeswoman for the Tourist Information Centre that organized the first edition of the event, told CTK this. There was a great interest in, for example, the fire station, underground collectors, and the International Centre for Clinical Research. The tower at the exhibition center, Marriott Hotel, theaters, and companies were also opened. Access was free of charge.

Some places, such as hotels or theaters, made spaces available that are normally not open to the public. People could visit 23 buildings. A total of 930 spots were designated for advance reservations. According to Nováková, the reservation system opened on Wednesday at 12:00, and all spots were filled within 20 minutes. Other participants came without reservations. "For some buildings, it was necessary to make a reservation for capacity or safety reasons. This applied to the fire station or office buildings," Nováková stated.

According to her, favorable sunny weather played a role. "We were surprised by the interest in the event. We work with the theme of authentic experiences and opening unusual places, so we knew there would be interest, but we didn't expect it to be so large," Nováková said. The festival could thus be repeated next year.

In addition to the fire station, Clinical Research Center, or the exhibition center tower, visitors could also visit the CEITEC research center of Masaryk University, the architecturally awarded spaces of the company Notino, Alpha Passage, the Sokol stadium on Kounicova Street, the Mosilany complex, the Theatre on Orlí, the collectors, as there are over 21 kilometers of tunnels with hot water under the city, but they could also visit the Barka theater or the Moravia brewery.

The idea for this type of festival originated, according to Nováková, in London in 1992 as an effort to strengthen the relationship between the public and the place and the city.