The second year of the national festival MAKRO CZECH GASTRO FEST, which will take place this year on 12 and 13 April at Prague’s O2 universa, will bring together gastronomy professionals and food lovers alike. Two days, four floors, eight themed sections, 20 professional shows, 30 partners and dozens of pop-up restaurants and stalls make it a unique national showcase of gastronomy and modern trends in Czech gastr.

“The second year and dozens of partners are a testament to the fact that we live in gastronomy and that together we manage to build a respected national platform for gastro professionals and lovers of good food and drink who will meet, taste, share their experiences and inspire each other at MAKRO CZECH GASTRO FEST. In addition to cooking shows and culinary experiences, I consider it an important part of the festival as well as economic debates and other professional discussions,” says Director General of Macro Cr Jiří Nehasil, adding that building a strong professional community is the right driver for Czech gastronomy to continue to be attractive and prosperous.

The first day of the festival will be reserved especially for professionals in the field of gastronomy, who will have the opportunity to discuss, listen to experts’ opinions about the future of gastro business and get practical information as well as an overview of the news in the range. Saturday will feature lovers of good food and drink from the general public, who will experience diverse tastes from all corners of the world on the four floors of the O2 universa in Prague’s Vysočany and meet familiar faces not only of the Czech gastro scene. The main ambassador of this year’s MACRO CZECH GASTRO FEST 2 will be the renowned chef and host of cookery programmes, Zdeněk Pohlreich: “I am honored to be an ambassador for this important gastronomic event, which you should definitely not miss. I look forward to seeing you there,” he says.

“The whole space of O2 universa will be divided into eight thematic sections OF MAKRO CZECH GASTRO FEST 2. They provided patronage over individual ones, in addition to the macro CR, such as the State Institute of Health, the Food’n Beverage Foundation or the cocktail culture ambassador George German, who created his own signature drink for the festival,” says Lenka Slezáková Director of Marketing macro CR.

The Fresh Market section under the auspices of the Macro Cr will host cooking and confectionery shows. One of them will be a match between pastry chef Helena Flégl ová and pastry experimenter and lecturer Vlad Ryasnyy.

The section of the Institution, which is sponsored by the State Institute of Health of the Czech Republic, will be transformed into a model canteen of the future, in which employees, clients or patients will receive high-quality, balanced and tasty meals.

Artificial intelligence, technology in gastronomy, views of prominent economists on gastro business, as well as diversity and women in gastro, are just some of the topics from more than fifteen panel discussions and inspirational meetings in the GastroTek section organized by the Food’n Beverage Foundation (Luboš Kastner and Filip Sajler). The programme will also include the announcement of a 30 under 30 competition in the world of gastronomy.

Hotels or street food under the auspices of the Czech Food Truck Association will also have a separate section. Visitors can look forward to a rich coffee section prepared in cooperation with the Specialty Coffee Association of the Czech Republic, in which the Czech Latte Art Championship 2024 and Barista Junior 2024 will take place. Those who prefer beer instead of coffee can look forward to the school of draughting in the partnership section.

The whole festival will be performed by Europe 2 presenters Pavel Cejnar and Bob Švarc Jr., actress and food lover Markéta Hrubešová, actress Michaela Maurerová and YouTuber and presenter Karel Kovy Kovář.