České noviny: Liberation Festival program culminates in Pilsen, attraction is Convoy of Liberty

Today is the third day of the five-day Liberation Festival in Pilsen - a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Pilsen by the American army. The weekend programme culminates, with the Convoy of Liberty being the main attraction and the most visited event of the festivities from 11:00. Around 350 pieces of US military historical equipment will pass along Klatovská třída in about two hours. The more than two-kilometre journey will end with the selected equipment from the head of the parade at around 13:00 at the Republic Square.

Three to four tanks and a few dozen jeeps will form the battlefront of the convoy, which will carry families of veterans from Belgium and the United States. They will be followed by other jeeps, armored vehicles, trucks, motorcycles, workshop, service or rear-guard equipment, infantry sections with battalions and weapons, as well as contemporary Czech and US military equipment. The convoy will be accompanied by flyovers of historic military aircraft Mustang, Harvard, Stinson Reliant or Boeing Stearman.

This year the participants of the convoy are very carefully selected. Only vetted owners of historic military equipment who have been vouched for will get a place in it. The organizers want to avoid excesses like what happened in last year's convoy, when a hand with a swastika flag slid out of one of the historic vehicles for a few seconds while passing under the balcony with the guests of honor. This year, the court gave the crew of the car, a married couple from South Bohemia, a suspended sentence and a fine.

In addition to the convoy, military history camps and a cultural programme continue today. On Monday, for example, a live radio broadcast will be heard from the confluence of the Radbuza and Mže rivers. It will be heard from the place from where the opening words of Czech Radio Pilsen were heard 80 years ago: "Pilsen speaks, free Pilsen speaks." The Liberation Festival will end on Tuesday with the main commemorative act at the Thanks, America monument, where Belgian King Philippe and President Petr Pavel are also due to arrive.