Spring in Prague is a time of renewal and celebration. -- Photo courtesy of Czech Tourist Authority

If music is the food of love and beer is the nectar of the gods, then Czech Republic has two vital ingredients for a springtime feast: Classical music -- and great beer.

The fifth Dvorak Olomouc Festival runs through May and the Prague Spring Festival starts May 11. The Dvorak festival celebrates the anniversary of the composer's birth and will include music by Dvorak and his contemporaries.

On May 30, world famous cellist Mischa Maisky, will perform with his daughter Lily. There's also jazz and chamber music. The festival wraps up June 1 with Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.

OFFBEAT LOCALES

The annual Pribram Dvorak festival runs May 4-May 30, with classical performances not just in traditional concert settings, but in off-beat parts of the town, such as the Antonin Dvorak Monument at the neo-Renaissance chateau in Vysok, the basilica at Svata Hora and the Ernestine Chateau.

Highlights of this year's festival include a performance by the Wihan Quartet of Beatles songs adapted for a string quartet (May 11) and Jazz Inspiration (May 15).

And the annual Prague Spring Music Festival gets underway May 11, with an opening concern that is a repeat of the opening concert performed at the first Prague Spring Festival in 1946 and features the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra with Zdenek Macal conducting.

They will perform J. B. Foerster's Ceremonial Overture In C major, Op 70 and Otakar Ostrcil's Stations Of The Cross, Op. 24. The concert will also feature hometown boy Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 7 In D minor, Op. 70.

If all that music makes you thirsty, head down to the second most famous beer hall in Europe after Munich.

The 500 year-old U Fleku beer hall dates from 1499 and serves up a special dark beer that has a distinctive, rich flavour. Located in the New Town district of Prague, you can tour the brewery and the beer museum.

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BOTTOM LINE

GETTING THERE

Czech Airlines has three flights a week from Toronto to Prague. (For current fares, log on to csa.cz).

MORE INFORMATION

For details of travel to the Czech Republic, see czechtourism.com.