Jiráskův Hronov is a festival of Czech amateur theatre with international participation. It takes place annually in Hronov

Hronov

Hronov is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 6,500 inhabitants. It is located near the Polish border. The Festival of amateur theatre Jiráskův Hronov takes part here every year...

, the town in the northeast of the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. The festival was named after the outstanding Czech writer Alois Jirásek

Alois Jirásek

Alois Jirásek was a Czech writer, author of historical novels and plays. Jirásek was a secondary-school teacher until his retirement in 1909. He wrote a series of historical novels imbued with faith in his nation and in progress toward freedom and justice...

. According to the Czech theatre critic Vladimír Hulec, Jiráskův Hronov is the oldest amateur theatre festival in the world. The first year of the festival took place in 1931, in a commemoration of Alois Jirásek's 80th birthday. During its existence, the festival became a national presentation of Czech amateur theatre, open for all theatre genres. The festival has non-competitive character, however, organizers annually award the unofficial Golden Alois Prize ("Zlatý Alois"). The majority of performances held in Jirásek's Theatre in Hronov.