The Good Market on Jakubovo Square (source: Courtesy of Dobrý Trh)
Jakubovo Square, close to Bratislava’s Old Town, will again host the Good Market, Dobrý Trh, in Slovakia. Apart from more than 150 stands with quality and hand-made products and food, visitors can learn more about local communities and the development of the city. The spring version of this popular event is taking place on April 21 from 10:00 until 17:00 as part of the Bratislava City Days.
“The Good Market is not only a one-off event as we do a lot of community activities with our neighbours,” said Illah van Oijen, one of organisers of the event. “People living here are important to us and this is why we would like to direct attention towards them.”
People living in and close to the places where the Good Market is taking place are an inseparable part of it. They actively join this event by participating in the programme, opening their yards and contributing to the packages offered to the market’s visitors.
“Prior to each market, we hold a neighbourhood picnic, at which we plan the next Good Market,” said Katarína Poliačiková, community manager of the event.
The community of people living in and near Jakubovo Square will be introduced via a photo wall with portraits of locals.
“We will also discuss with the neighbours what community means for them and what they like on Jakubovo Square the most,” said Poliačiková. “They, as well as visitors, will be able to express this directly by leaving a message on the wall.”
The long-term partner of the event, the VÚB Foundation, supports the solidification of the local community.
“The creation of conditions for the better coexistence of communities and the active development of relations between neighbours should have its place in any modern place because this is good for the whole of society,” said Alexander Resch, director of the VÚB bank as well as the head of the foundation.
The programme of the spring Good Market will again be rich. In cooperation with the [fjúžn] festival it will introduce several foreign artists and communities. Part of the programme will also take place in the Mareen community centre and in the garden of the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA). For families with children there will be a children’s zone, a theatre and a book reading about Gréta the whale inspiring children to think about waste.
A traditional topic of the Good Market will be separation of waste and a zero-waste life style.
The Good Market last year prohibited the use of plastic tableware and only compostable tableware was allowed.
“Thanks to this we reduced the amount of our communal waste to less than 10 percent,” said Illah van Oijen.
The Good Market takes place several times a year on Panenská Street and on Jakubovo Street.
