photo: Bratislava City Council
BRATISLAVA plans to continue the tradition of holding a party in the streets of the Old Town on New Year's Eve. The Main Square will again be the centre of the festivities, with hours of concerts planned. The Slovak reggae Ska-Pra group Šupina opens the concert at 19:00. Other performers - Vidiek, Gladiator, Hex and the ska band Polemic - will entertain people all the way to an hour after midnight. A Silvester disco will take place at Hviezdoslavovo námestie, starting at 21:00. Prior to that, the stage will belong to world music. The Pressburger Klezmer Band opens the concert at 18:00, to be followed by Roma folk band Sendreiovci - Kokavakere Lavutára and Mango Molas, mixing Afro-Cuban rhythms, samba and bossanova with current music styles. The evening peaks with the countdown to midnight and a fireworks display that will light up the Danube embankment. Legendary keyboardist Marián Varga and his live music accompanied by pyrotechnic and laser effects will welcome the new year on Rázusovo - Vajanského nábrežie. His performance will start at 23:45. For more information call 02/5935-6155.
Western SLOVAKIA
Bratislava
CLASSICAL MUSIC: Silvester Concert - Prominent singers from the Slovak National Theatre Opera perform.
Starts: Dec 31 at 16:00. SND Opera, Gorkého 2. Tel: 02/5443-3771.
Bratislava
CLASSICAL MUSIC: Christmas Benefit Concert - Organist Anna Predmerská, singer Katarína Šilhavíková, organist Stanislav Tichý, trumpetist Karol Sipos, flutist Lenka Polakovičová and the SALUS choir perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Georg Fridrich Händel, César Franck, Jakub Jan Ryba, Andrew Lloyd Webber and others to raise money for Slovak kindergartens in Lucina, Hungary and Nadlak, Romania.
Starts: Dec 19 at 18:00. Admission: charity. Nový evanjelický kostol (New Evangelical Church), Legionárska. Tel: 02/5932-7716.
Bratislava
LIVE MUSIC: Hanukkah and Christmas - Prominent Slovak world-music bands, the Pressburger Klezmer Band and Banda celebrate the arrival of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, and Christmas. The Pressburger Klezmer Band is regarded as the best klezmer band in the Slovak and Czech Republics, and Banda presents modern arrangements of Slovak folk music.
Starts: Dec 19 at 20:00. Admission: Sk120 in advance, Sk150 at the door. Klub za Zrkadlom music club, Rovniankova 3. Tel: 02/6381-1328.
Bratislava
EXHIBITION: European Neo-constructivism (1930-2000) - A total of 150 works by 30 artists including Viktor Vasarely, Lucio Fontana, Michel Seuphor, Josef Albers, Max Bill and many others present world constructivism. Slovakia is represented by its most significant creator of dynamic constructivism, Milan Dobeš.
Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00 until February 28. Admission: free. Dom umenia (House of Arts), Nám. SNP 12. Tel: 02/5292-3736.
Trenčín
FOLKLORE: We Wish You Plenty of Blessings - Music and dance folklore ensembles sing Christmas carols and perform folklore traditions connected to Christmas and New Year.
Starts: Dec 22 at 18:00. Dom Armády (The House of Army), Hviezdoslavova 16. Tel: 032/7430-619.
Nitra
LIVE MUSIC: Epiphany Concert - The Hradišťan Dulcimer Band, one of the oldest and most well-known Moravian dulcimer bands, performs.
Starts: Jan 6 at 19:00. Admission: free. Piaristický kostol Sv. Ladislava (Piaristic Church of st. Ladislavus), Piaristická. Tel: 037/161-86.
Central SLOVAKIA
Žarnovica
CAR SHOW: Autoslide 2007 - This huge automotive show, which includes a competition of cars on a speedway track, opens the motorist's 2007 season.
Starts: Jan 7 at 11:30. Admission: Sk250. Castrol Arena, Potočná 9. Tel: 033/7720-891.
Žilina
FOLKLORE: Devil's Violin - Diabolské Husle (Devil's Violin), the gifted ensemble of Slovak virtuoso violinist Ján Berky-Mrenica, are masters of genres from classical to jazz and pop music.
Starts: Dec 20 at 19:00. Admission: Sk270. Mestské divadlo (City Theatre), Horný Val 3.
Tel: 041/5623-703.
Eastern SLOVAKIA
Košice
FESTIVAL: Festival of Second Culture - This festival offers two days of shorts, videos and videoart by Erik Sikora and the installation "Do you Hear How Greedily You Eat?" by Peter Baláž. Bands from eastern Slovakia, including Clean up or die, Pulnoční Myš, Abusus, Plastic Midnight Mouse of the Universe and others, will also perform.
Starts: Dec 21-22. Admission: Sk60, Sk80. IC Culture Train culture centre, Vyšné Opátske.
Tel: 055/6424-488.
Vlachovo
Folklore: Vlachovská gubajka - Locals sing Christmas carols and perform plays.
Starts: Dec 25 at 16:00. Admission: free. Pod Strosom.
Tel: 058/7883-270.
photo: Slovak Mining Museum
THE TRADITIONAL Christmas exhibition in the Old Castle in Banská Štiavnica introduces vistors this year to wooden sculptures and relives the main occupation of the town's past inhabitants - mining. Works by woodcarvers Anton Sklenka from Ilija and Štefan Pivarči from Štefultovo from 1949 are the oldest exhibits at the display. Contemporary art is represented by noteworthy works by Alexander Ladziansky. Naive artists Július Považan and Jozef Lackovič portray the mining town's atmosphere. Another part of the exhibition is devoted to a regional specialty - nativity scenes depicting central Slovakia's mountainous landscape and the life of shepherds. The exhibition is in the Old Castle at Starozámocká 11, and lasts until January 11. It is open between Tuesday and Sunday from 8:00 until 16:00. The castle is closed on December 24 and 25 and on January 1. Tickets cost Sk60. For more information call 02/045/6949-472.
