Weekend: Read on! Bratislava book festival is here

Architecture days, Košice meet Bratislava, horse riding and more for the weekend of June 2 - 4.

During the book festival BRaK, you'll be able to talk to many authors, publishers and more. (Illustrative photo)During the book festival BRaK, you'll be able to talk to many authors, publishers and more. (Illustrative photo) (Source: Jaroslav Novák,TASR)

Bratislava

Books, magazines, comics

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Bratislava book and literature festival BRaK. The motto is dedicated to books and time, since books are timeless, and the festival continues to carry that legacy. You’ll be able to find the festival in Nová Cvernovka during the weekend from June 2 to June 4.

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The festival is a common ground for writers and publishers from not only Slovakia, but mainly the other countries of the Visegrad four – Czechia, Poland, and Hungary. For the closeness in culture and literature, Ukraine is invited in the mix as well. Curators invited 40 smaller publishers to showcase their work accompanied with designers, marketers, creative individuals and of course writers.

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During the weekend, visitors will get to browse through tens of books, try out designs, chat with the authors, translators, and more. The programme won’t be short of concerts, exhibitions or theatre bits either, and something for children too.

A room for architecture

Bratislava City Gallery is premiering as host of Days of Architecture. Exhibition dedicated to architectural artwork will reside in the Mirbach Palace until June 6. Many are tied to the architecture of Vladimír Dedeček, who is well known in Bratislava. His contribution is in the faculty of architecture of Comenius University, National Archive or Slovak National Gallery. There will be even more to discover!

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Travel

A cave adventure

There’s a cave near Košice that is a great introduction to both cave-exploring and learning more about the various type of rocks, minerals, and earth bodies in eastern Slovakia. Jasovská Cave, part of National Park Slovenský Kras, carries the title of the first-ever public cave in Slovakia, and is now open for all explorers. During the season of June, visitors will be able to enter from 9:00 to 16:00 with tours dedicated to a full hour. The entry hours change depending on the season. During July and August, first entry is at 10:00 and last at 17:00 – with each entry taking a full hour.

There, a flight of 339 stairs and about 720 meters of walking is waiting to be explored. Cavers should be aware that the average temperature is around 8°C to 9°C, so pack something warm to wear. The humidity is also very high.

Here’s where to find Jasovská cave. The municipality Jasov nearby also has some great places to visit, like castle ruins, oak forests, and a nice small lake.

Petting them all

Why not spend the weekend with animals? An eko-park contact zoo located just a stone’s throw away from Piešťany houses tens of species of animals to get close to. With parrots, owls, emus, wildlife birds or even eagles, visitors have the chance to cherish the colourful and various birds up close. Birds are the zoo’s niche, but there are also llamas, squirrels and rabbits.

Some animals are available for petting and feeding as well. There’s a place to sit down, get food and rest with a place to stay if desired. The zoo is open during workdays from 10:00 to 18:00 and from 10:00 to 19:00 on weekends. Entry fee is €12 for both children over three years old and adults. Here’s where to find the zoo.

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Miscellaneous

Turf days in Bratislava

This weekend is a great chance to see horse races in person. On June 4 starting at 14:00, the 44th year of Turf – Gala returns to Bratislava. With eight awards each for various categories of horses, varying lengths and more, visitors will be able to witness the majestic horses at their very best. The gala day starts with a ceremonial parade in front of the tribunes with all the attending horses. Find the racetrack here, in Bratislava.

Tabačka on the waves

The community based culture centre in Košice Tabačka joins forces with concert and community event space Pink Whale in Bratislava inthea festival Tabačka On The Waves during the weekend of June 2 to June 4. The artists and community from Košice will all travel to Bratislava’s Pink Whale bringing concerts, performances and even karaoke with them.

The program on Friday starts at 17:00 on the upper stage and ends around 24:00 below deck. For Saturday, the program starts at 15:00 on the shore with a live street art act, and ends at 24:00 below deck. The entry fee is €15 for one day, 25€ for the whole festival.


Before you go

WHAT TO READ: The return of a local legend, helpful app - cheer up with three good news from Slovakia.
WHERE TO GO: Grab your children to enjoy some Children Days' activities or go and admire the knights of Devín Castle. Here's our top 10 events for foreigners.
WHAT TO LEARN: Prefixes in Slovak can be tricky and change the meaning of the word. Read more on what to look out for when talking.


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

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