(VOVworld) – Czech Republic’s city of Plzen is celebrating its selection as European Capital of Culture in 2015. Approximately 50,000 visitors from across Czech Republic and its neighboring countries including Germany flocked to Plzen to mark the event which opened during the weekend. Under the motto "Open up", Plzen 2015 will stage over 600 events - plays, concerts, exhibitions, public space happenings and artistic interventions. At the opening festivities on 17-18 January a new piece by contemporary Czech composer Marko Ivanovič will be premiered, and the new bells of the Plzeň cathedral will sound the first time.