Weekend: Masks on! It's time for Bratislava Carnival parade

Have a look at fun exhibitions, dance in a Fašiangy parade and ponder the idea of night skiing.

Kids help each other to get ready for the Fašiangy Carnival.Kids help each other to get ready for the Fašiangy Carnival. (Source: SME-Gabriel Kuchta)

Carnival for all, from kids to elders

Masks, a parade, tons of food, and music. This weekend, Bratislava’s town squares will come alive. The traditional period of Carnival, fašiangy in Slovak, invites locals and foreigners to gather and enjoy some iconic traditions re-packed in a modern way.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

Starting from Velvet Revolution town square laid out in front of the Stará Tržnica [Old Market] building, Carnival invites visitors to a swing concert around lunch. While spending time there, stop by the community picnic to taste šiška [similar to doughnuts, often stuffed with jam] and hang out with others in a festive atmosphere.

SkryťTurn off ads

If you are feeling creative, embrace your inner artist and try designing a mask. The most original pieces will lead the festival parade from Velvet Revolution square through Hviezdoslav square, Zichy Palace, Main Square, Primal Palace and circles back to the beginning. Bratislava’s Fašiangy Carnival also offers programmes for kids in the Ukrainian language.

Related: Read our story on the Fašiangy carnivals in Slovakia and have a look at detailed schedule for the Bratislava’s Fašiangy event.

Other recommendations for you:

  • Become a pottery maker

Bratislava’s Fašiangy carnival includes a simple course in pottery. To take a step further into pottery, Žilina’s creative community centre Stanica (Station) offers a two weekend ceramic workshop in the English language with Nora Onysko.

SkryťTurn off ads
  • More for the hungry

For those craving another bite of carnival festivals, Bratislava’s city district Petržalka has its own festival of street food at Petržalka’s market.


TRAVEL

Night adventures after a peaceful hike

During the day, visitors know Bachledova Dolina as place for a peaceful hike to a path above the trees with vast views, slow walks and fog rolling over the mountains. However, not many know the spot during the night.

Bachledova Dolina, a valley located on the borders of Spišská Magura and Belianske Tatras, opens its gates for night skiers during every Tuesday and Saturday in the evening hours just after the regularly scheduled day skiing. A suitable substitution for late night skiing is the equally adventurous night sledding on a 2.5 km long track.

Visitors in a mood for something more peaceful can also wander around the paths above the trees and enjoy the night sky without light smog.

EVENT: The Dinner Under The Stars takes place on Tatra’s Skalnaté Pleso mountain lake in the Panorama restaurant.

Hikers shine light onto international route shelter

Hiking enthusiasts want to bring life to a shelter on Magurka Hill, in the Low Tatras. While the Polish side of the Tatras prides itself on many shelters for hikers, the Slovak side lacks them. Due to the popularity of such shelters, it was not hard for a hiking association to find more volunteers ready to help the cause.

Located at the crossroad of hiking routes leading from Námestovo, Vavrečka, Tvrdošín, Horný Štefanov and Kubínská Hola, the shelter happens to be on the international route crossing Europe, the Black Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Many people come across the humble shelter; vandals and dampness do not help its condition. The hikers plan on repairing the shelter and getting it into better shape by fixing the roof, drains, windows and more. For curious hikers, the shelter hides a unique kitchen unit of solid wood from Romania.

LAKE: Liptovský Mikuláš region’s lake project should create a home for reptiles, frogs and many other amphibians.


Exhibitions

OIL PAINTING: Argentinian-Slovak brothers in painting. Catch the exhibition Ďaleko a Spolu (Far Away And Together) portraying an unlikely friendship through painting. Town: Prešov.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Alica Uchytilová presents society with the still uncomfortable topic of mental health. As the topic deserves more attention, the artist exhibits her struggles through her autobiography O Záber Ľahšia (A Shot Lighter). Town: Bratislava.

FASHION PHOTO: Abstract reality, optics. Ukrainian fashion photographer Valeriia Yeromenko focuses her current niche on photography’s growth and interaction with the viewer in the exhibition Abstract Reality. Town: Bratislava.

ON TIME: Aleš Votava’s scenographic work, captured in the exhibition Medziobjekty (Between Objects), presents his most iconic designs. Town: Bratislava.


Weekend read

Where Slovaks like to give up

Born in India, now living in Slovakia, life coach Owen Patrick Fernandes describes how his perception on life changed after a near-death experience.

From and in Slovakia, he fixes people’s distracted minds or strips them out of their self-imposed mental limitations to help them change their lives for the better.

“Most people aren’t aware that the results they achieve in life are directly proportional to the awareness that they have in their minds,” he tells The Slovak Spectator.

And how does he perceive Slovak people?


BEFORE YOU GO

  • TOP 10 EVENTS: Concerts, swaps of clothing, international nights. What to do in Bratislava in the coming days.
  • A LOOK INTO TRADITION: Want to experience the Bratislava Fašiangy’s Carnival but cannot go yourself? Watch how Fašiangy looks in Slovakia’s picturesque Čičmany village.

That's it for this week. Take care, and have a restful weekend!
-Mária

Do you have any tips? You can reach Mária at maria.jurikova@spectator.sk

Top stories

Stock image.

Twice as many Ukrainians work in Slovakia now than before the Russian invasion.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad