Liberation
Festival
Pilsen

About

The celebrations of the liberation by the American army are a unique phenomenon of the city of Pilsen, to which it has been an inseparable part for more than thirty-five years.

They offer the opportunity to get acquainted with the environment of historical military camps, to learn about period technology, the life of soldiers and civilians. They also include commented demonstrations of weapons and equipment, airplane flights or parachutists' jumps.

The city is visited by dozens of descendants of veterans from the USA and Belgium who participated in the liberation of Western Bohemia, and hundreds of owners of historical military technology from all over Europe.

Commemorative acts are a traditional part of the celebrations, and the culmination of the military program is the unique parade of hundreds of historical military vehicles, the Convoy of Liberty.

The festival atmosphere of the celebrations is accompanied by a rich musical program taking place on several stages in the city, where swing bands evoking the 1940s, as well as contemporary music stars of all genres, perform.

Visitors from all over the world can look forward to a unique opportunity to travel back to 1945 and experience the life, fashion and style of that time. The program also includes activities for children, exhibitions and a varied gastronomic offer. Sports enthusiasts can also support a good cause by joining the Run for the Memory of the Nation.

Liberation of Western Bohemia by the American Army

With the liberation of Czechoslovakia by the Allied forces in May 1945, the fighting of the Second World War in Europe came to an end. Most of the territory of the present-day Czech Republic was liberated by the Soviet army, while most of western Bohemia was liberated by the troops of General George Patton's 3rd U.S. Army. General Dwight Eisenhower's order to advance into the interior of Czechoslovakia was sounded on May 4, marking the beginning of key American operations in Bohemia. Pilsen saw the soldiers with the white star on May 6 and became the last place where the Allied troops' journey across the European continent ended.

History of celebrations

The memory of the fighting and fallen Americans was soon after the war, from 1948 onwards, suppressed by the communist regime, which tried to emphasize only the role of the Red Army in the liberation of Czechoslovakia. Any official celebration of the arrival of the American army in Pilsen and western Bohemia was unthinkable. People who tried to organize commemorative events faced persecution and subsequent persecution. It was only after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, more than 40 years later, that the celebrations of the American liberation of Pilsen could be restored in full, and today they are one of the most important events in the Czech Republic commemorating important milestones in our history.