The Bratislava Majáles festival. (source: TASRA)
TRAVEL
Are you a pilgrim? Don't skip these sites
For some contemporary visitors, Bratislava is merely Party-Slava, home of nightclubs and bars. However, Bratislava is also a destination for pilgrims who come to engage with the city's rich spiritual history. There are five sites in Bratislava that are of particular relevance and to which pilgrims continue to come to pay homage.
St. Martin Cathedral in Bratislava. (source: TASR - Dano Veselský)
ART
USE THE C!TY (of Košice)
The Výmenníky heat exchangers venue in Košice once again play host to the popular USE THE C!TY multigenre festival. Taking place between May 2-5, the 16th edition brings forth local music producers, especially on Friday. In addition to music, there will be a lot of workshops, a fashion performance, and a local lake will be turned into smaller-scale Venice. Find out more about the programme here. Admission is free.
May festivities
Although arguably the main event of this weekend takes place in Bratislava in the form of a traditional Majáles, the town of Nitra is holding the second edition of its own Majáles event. Held between May 3-4 in the Agrokomplex venue, it features popular Slovak musicians taking to the stage on both days. You can get your tickets here.
TIP: In Bratislava and free: Jean-Michel Jarre will perform a concert against the backdrop of the UFO bridge.
Visualisation of the concert of Jean Michel Jarre with special guest Brian May scheduled for May 12. (source: Courtesy of Starmus festival)
MISCELLANEOUS FUN
Come play board games
On Sunday, the town of Pezinok is holding a board game day in the local community hall, promising a vast amount of modern games for afficionados, families with children and just about every age group alike. The event starts at 10:00 and will continue until evening. Admission is free.
Speaking of which, the Ihrysko board game store in Bratislava's Vivo shopping centre is holding Carcassonne days between May 1-5, including the Slovak Carcassonne championship on Saturday. You can either take part in a casual game, or see how do you fare against other competitive players of this modern classic tile-laying game. All the details can be found here.
(source: TASR)
These antiques need new home
Coins, medals, pins, vinyls, artworks, porcelain books and much, much more will be sold this Saturday at the antiques bazaar in Stupava's beautiful Kaštieľsky Park garden, Bratislava Region. If you are a collector of things of the past or maybe considering starting your own collection, this is the place to be. Admission starts at €1.
Discover the nature of Slovakia in pictures
The Wuppertálska heat exchanger venue in Košice is hosting a new exhibition dedicated to Slovak nature. Slovak wildlife photographer Peter Jaš has prepared a selection of his work that he took exclusively here in the hope of spurring visitors to discover and protect their own nature. The exhibition can be visited on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until May 19. Admission is free. More details are provided here.
Communication in the last 200 years
Technology has evolved by leaps and bounds over the last 200 years, as evidenced by the various inventions that came between telegraphs of the 19th century and the Internet of our lifetime and made communication not only easier, but quicker as well. A new exhibition in the Thurzov Dom (Thurzo's House) venue in Banská Bystrica, central Slovakia. The exhibition showcases electronic telegraphs, analogue telephones, old computers and memory devices, teaches the Morse Code, shows how to run historic computers and more. Learn more here.
Old telephones. (source: TASR)
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 10-12: Discover the Gemer historic region
May 15-19:The Balónová Fiesta hot air balloon festival in Košice
May 18: The Trdlofest festival in Skalica
May 18: The museum and gallery night
May 25-26: The Rotenstein festival of knights at the Červený Kameň castle
May 31-June 2: The weekend of open parks and gardens
BEFORE YOU GO
WHAT TO DO FOR FREE: Enjoy the last concert of the cycle of organ concerts under the RTVS pyramid.
WHAT TO EXPLORE IN BRATISLAVA: Majáles, Račianske Hody, Opera Duets and much more in this week's Top 10 events for foreigners.
WHAT TO LEARN: Cat videos are cute, until they aren't. A lot of them are problematic, says cat behaviour researcher.
WHAT TO READ: Diplomat Peter Javorčík wrote the EU membership application on his computer. It was two sentences long.
WHAT TO TRY: The Slovak Spectator's Mark Taylor tried the same restaurant 25 years after he first ate there. Read the review here.
That's it for this week. Take care, and have a nice weekend!
