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They call themselves a carnival. Hundreds of performer-activists seeking to mark the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution with a twist: less wreath-laying and somber recollections, and more masks, costumes, parades, workshops and countless other events highlighting pressing issues, whether environmental or social. This is the organisation's third year, operating out of a provisional headquarters in the heart of Prague's Old Town. I spoke with Marie Knapp, public relations director for the Velvet Carnival and began by asking her to describe the

As the 25th anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution approaches, the Czech foreign ministry is putting its full weight behind a series of events taking place across the world to celebrate the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

Almost one hundred events will mark the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution which saw communism begin to fall in Czechoslovakia on November 17th, 1989. Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, at a press conference on Monday, stressed that the anniversary was of major importance not least because of the non-violent nature of events in the Velvet Revolution - a peaceful transition which he said was rare today and had won the country respect. One of the most anticipated events around the time of the 25th anniversary will be the unveiling of a bust of late former president Václav Havel in Washington. Mr Havel went from being a dissident to becoming Czechoslovakia’s first democratically-elected president after 1989. A conference will be held in Washington to discuss Mr Havel’s legacy; it will be attended, among others, by the former US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.

The Czech Philharmonic, under the direction of renowned conductor Jiří Bělohlávek, will perform Antonín Dvořák’s “From the New World Symphony” at Carnegie Hall in New York on November 16th – the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Czech cultural representatives, part of a delegation led by the head of the Chamber of Deputies Jan Hamáček, are bringing to the US the original handwritten score which Dvořák wrote during his time in the United States. The score has not left the country in more than 100 years. The composer’s grandson will also be travelling to the US for the occasion.

Dramatist Tom Stoppard and musician John Cale are set to appear at Prague’s National Theatre on November 17 as part of an event marking the anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution. The two will attend the Memory of the Nation Awards, which recognise those who resisted totalitarian power. Some 20 people from the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia will receive awards at the event, which is organised by the Post Bellum civic group. Cale’s band The Velvet Underground were influential in Czechoslovakia and the Czech-born Stoppard explored the significance of music in the country in the 1970s and ‘80s in the play Rock’n’Roll.

German President Joachim Gauck, Hungarian President Janos Ader, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Slovak President Andrej Kiska, along with President Miloš Zeman, will mark the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which led to the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia, together at a special event in Prague. The plan was confirmed by the president's spokesman Jiří Ovčáček on Monday. A special ceremony is to be held at Prague's Charles University. The Czech president is also planning to invite those who took part in the demonstrations on November 17, 1989 that started at the university campus in Albertov and ended in a crackdown by the communist regime, Mr Ovčáček confirmed.

A cultural space named the Velvet Centre is set to open in Prague’s Malá Strana district on Wednesday ahead of 25th anniversary celebrations of the Velvet Revolution, which brought communism to an end in Czechoslovakia. The centre on Cíhelná St., a short distance from Charles Bridge, will host workshops, lectures and debates centred on the revolution, which began on November 17 1989.

Writers were at the forefront of the Velvet Revolution. But when the dust settled on the political changes they found a fast changing publishing revolution underway that left some of them sidelined. We look at the changes in the publishing and literary world over the last two decades.

The Czech president, Miloš Zeman, is to join his counterparts from Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary at ceremonies in all five countries later this year marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of communism in the states. Mr. Zeman’s foreign affairs spokesman confirmed his participation to the Czech News Agency. While the events in the Visegrad Four countries will take place in their capitals, the German memorial will take place in Leipzig, a city that saw mass demonstrations against the then East German regime in 1989. The Czech Republic will mark the 25th anniversary on November 17, the day that the Velvet Revolution got underway. Details about the event have not been revealed.

Former prominent official of Czechoslovakia’s Communist regime, Miroslav Štěpán, has died at the age of 68. As leader of the Community Party in Prague, Mr Šťěpán authorized violent suppression of opposition protests in the regime’s final years; after its fall, he became one of few Communists convicted of abuse of office. Miroslav Štěpán later unsuccessfully attempted a political comeback, never giving up his hard-line views.