Photo: M. Pecuch
A visual memory of those who liberated Pilsen in May 1945, an enthusiastic welcome by their descendants, the arrival of military historical equipment, a performance by the marching band of American students and an exhibition by American military cadets, swing music and dance, a concert by the Jazz Without Borders Big Band with singer Chuck Wansley from Los Angeles. Such was the first evening of this year’s Freedom Celebrations on Republic Square on Friday, May 3, 2024.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I really appreciate you taking the time to celebrate the freedom festival with us. Thank you to everyone involved in its organization. I believe that this year’s Freedom Celebration will be properly enjoyed not only by the descendants of veterans, but by all citizens of Pilsen. I’m really looking forward to the already traditional events and I’ll see you at the Freedom Convoy on Sunday. Enjoy this year’s Freedom Celebration,” said the mayor of the city of Pilsen Roman Zarzyckywho opened the evening with the families of veterans.
Christina Bigelow spoke on behalf of the families of American veterans, daughter of Richard Pieper, who served in the 97th Infantry Division and regularly came to Pilsen for the Freedom Celebration since 1995. He died at the age of 99 last March. “It is a great honor for me to be able to stand here together with other representatives of the families of veterans and welcome you for our fathers who liberated Europe, Czechoslovakia and Pilsen at that time. Thank you very much for the respect you show us. When we arrived yesterday, I heard my father say: We are in Pilsen – our second home,” she said Christina Bigelow Pieper.
Luc Rensonnet performed for the Belgian veterans, son of Georges Rensonnet, a member of the 17th Rifle Battalion, who died in 2012: “We Belgians would like to thank the mayor, his deputies and you, the residents of Pilsen, for the warm welcome that the 17th Rifle Battalion from Liège has been receiving since 1990. Thank you for the gratitude with which you remember our dads. We, their sons, daughters, grandchildren, are very happy that we can be here with you during the Freedom Celebrations and we can continue to remember them.”
During the evening, the US student marching band Stuttgart Legacy Drumline performed with dancers, drummers and cymbals. 21 cadets from American air, engineering and artillery bases in Ansbach and Vilseck, Germany, presented themselves in a rifle exhibition. After them, representatives of all five military history clubs, whose camps can be viewed in the garden circle during the Freedom Celebrations, marched and entered Republic Square. Then the Pilsner Jazz Band played 1930s and 1940s swing. The evening culminated in a Jazz Without Borders Big Band concert with singer Chuck Wansley from Los Angeles.
The weekend of May 4 and 5 will be at the Freedom Festivalwhich is visited by tens of thousands of people every year, belong to the military camps and music of the time, which can be heard on several stages, in addition to náměstí Republiky, also in Pobřežní street and in Kopecký sady. On Saturday, there is also a Run for the Memory of the Nation or a memorial service on Náměstí Miru. IN sunday is on the agenda Convoy of Freedom. IN Monday, May 6 at 6 p.m. The Freedom Celebration ends with the main memorial service at the memorial Thanks America!
Complete program can be found on the website www.slavnostisvobody.cz.
Text: Hana Josefová
