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Leading Scientists, Legends of CNN and a Tribal Chief from the Amazon Meet in Ostrava When most of the population is beginning to make its holiday preparations, promoters of summer festivals are finalizing their jobs. It is turning into a  tradition for Ostrava to become a  musical metropolis for a few days in July. It is no wonder, then, that increasing numbers of visitors to the festival come to learn and explore at the Meltingpot discussion forum, held as an extension to the Colours of Ostrava festival : leaders in science and humanities, arts, education, and human rights, journalists, travellers, and inspirational speakers come here from all parts of the world. Meltingpot is unique in its range. What is the typical course of preparations for an event like this? “No matter how well we are prepared, there is always some necessary improvisation, though the scale of these emergency moments is on the wane. Our rewards for

the pressure come when we sit down with the audience and enjoy a lecture by someone whom we sincerely wanted on our programme,” says the programme manager Petra Hniková Charmite. “This year is interesting because we celebrate a few significant anniversaries, all of them around the question: where shall we go next? It’s been thirty years since the Velvet Revolution. The last day of the festival falls on the day fifty years after the first human stood on The Moon. 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci died. Following his vision, we do our best to connect science and arts, all kinds of knowledge. That is why we invite various Renaissance persons.”

Text: Gabriela Říhánková Foto: archiv MELTINGPOT z. s. www. meltingpotforum.com/cs

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