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The 20th anniversary of Jan Palach’s self-immolation brought many thousands onto the streets for protests that had no precedent in communist Czechoslovakia. Palach Week, as it became known, began on January 15 1989 and saw running battles between demonstrators and riot police. Hundreds were arrested, among them top dissidents such as Václav Havel, and the events are seen by some as foreshadowing the Velvet Revolution, 10 months later.

Monday is the 30th anniversary of the first demonstration ever permitted by Czechoslovakia’s Communists. But why did the regime allow their enemies like Václav Havel to speak publicly on December 10, 1988? And what did it mean for dissidents themselves?

Events marking the anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution in Prague on Saturday drew the largest crowds since the establishment of the independent Czech Republic, the organisers of the Festival of Freedom announced on Monday.

Around 132,000 people took part in events at Národní, Wenceslas Square and Albertov. A concert on Wenceslas Square alone drew over 80,000 people, organisers said.

Up to 30,000 of the participants were foreign, with one-third being Slovak. The figures were mainly calculated on the basis of mobile phone presence at the sites in question.

Several thousand people attended a Concert for the Future on Prague’s Wenceslas Square on Saturday night.

The concert lasted for more than five hours with music interspersed with speeches by activists, former politicians and personalities from the arts world. The speakers criticized the present political culture in the country and spoke about the need to protect and nurture freedom and democracy.

There were calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who faces charges of EU subsidy fraud.

The concert was preceded by a protest gathering against the prime minister on Old Town Square attended by thousands of people.

This year the Czech Republic is celebrating many special anniversaries. Yet despite the importance of commemorating a hundred years since the Czechs gained independence, the 50 years since the 1968 invasion and more, there is and always has been one anniversary that overshadows the others in terms of political statement – November 17th.

The annual Festival of Freedom, which organises many of the November 17th celebrations, will offer a wide-ranging programme in dozens of cities across the country. Visitors can look forward to concerts, theatre shows, discussion panels and readings in some of the iconic locations of the Velvet Revolution. The main theme of this year’s festival will be the support of discussion in society.

Czechs regard the 1989 Velvet Revolution as the highlight of their nation’s greatest moment since the foundation of Czechoslovakia a century ago, while for the Slovaks their proudest hour was the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. That is according to parallel opinion polls conducted in both states and published on Tuesday.

Some 72 percent of Czechs polled rated the revolution as the “most positive” moment of the last century. By contrast, Slovaks placed the events of 1989 third among great moments since 1918, behind the Slovak National Uprising and the establishment of independent Slovakia.

The freethinking part of Czech society suffered several defeats in recent years, rector of Masaryk University in Brno, Mikuláš Bek maintained in his address to attendees at Albertov in Prague on Friday marking the courage and dedication of students and others who fought oppression in Czechoslovakia on November 17, 1939 and 1989.

Freedom and democracy, he said, needed to be cared for and he said one shouldn't be afraid to fight for it. In his speech, he ranked the first direct presidential election as one defeat freethinking society had suffered recently. The rector added there was "no reason to panic" and that education could change Czech society for the better.

The rector of Charles University, Tomáš Zima, remembered the courage of students in both 1939 and 1989 and said he had no doubt if freedom and democracy were threatened today, people would again stand up in its defense.

Twenty-eight years ago Czechs took to the streets to demonstrate for basic human rights and freedoms. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since and many Czechs today are asking themselves where those ideals went. Sociologist Jan Hartl, head of the STEM polling agency, has been closely monitoring the change of mood in Czech society over that time. I asked him to explain how people’s priorities have changed over the years.

Monika MacDonagh-Pajerová is a political activist and university lecturer. Back in 1989, she served as a press spokesperson for the student leaders protesting against the communist regime. Pajerová also helped to organise some of the now famous protests that led to the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. I joined her for an informal conversation about the subsequent mood in the country – and how for some, hope soon turned to cynicism. But I began by asking her to briefly describe her role in the events of November 1989: