Bratislava Christmas continues after Saturday

The closing concert of the Bratislava Christmas will rock Franciscan Square on Saturday, 23 December, but the Christmas Market is not yet over. After a short break over the Christmas holidays, the Main and Old Town Christmas Markets will remain open until New Year's Eve. And what do visitors think of Christmas in Bratislava?

About half of the stalls on Main and Hviezdoslav Square will also be open during the New Year celebrations. On New Year's Eve, both the Christmas Markets will have extended opening hours - food and drinks will be on offer until 2 a.m. The Main Christmas Market on Main Square will open after the holidays on 27 December, while the Old Town Market on Hviezdoslav Square will open a day earlier (26 December). Saturday is the busiest

Most people visit the Main Christmas Market regularly. According to a survey carried out by BKIS directly at the market in the Main Square, the visitors like the vibe (43%), meeting their loved ones (21%) and the food and drink on offer (20%). It is visited by numerous people every day - mostly from Friday to Sunday, when accompanied by a programme in the adjacent Franciscan Square. "Visitors come in all weathers. They especially appreciate the cleanliness and the atmosphere, and we have also received positive feedback about the connection with the Old Town Christmas Market. Concern is expressed about the prices at the stalls but, as the organiser, we have no control over those," says Katarína Hulíková, Director of BKIS. People would also like an ice-skating rink. However, this is not feasible without a sponsor due to energy prices and operating costs as well as the overall budget of the event. BKIS has launched an online questionnaire ↗︎ to collect feedback from visitors. It can be found at Bratislavské Vianoce ↗︎ up to 5 January 2024 and the results will be useful in the preparation of next year's markets.

Contactless payments to help the MEMORY Centre

Thanks to Slovenská sporiteľna bank and its GoodPay service, every visitor can pay conveniently and securely at every stall using contactless payments. For every 20,000 contactless payments at the Main and Old Town Christmas Markets, the Slovenská sporiteľna Foundation has pledged to donate €10,000 to the MEMORY Centre, which helps people with memory disorders and Alzheimer's disease. "It is with great pleasure that we can already announce that we have exceeded the set threshold of 20,000 transactions and confirm the financial support for the MEMORY Centre. We would like to thank all the visitors to the Christmas Markets who chose to pay cashless and at the same time help contribute to a good cause," says Barbara Henterová, Manager of the Slovenská sporiteľna Foundation.

Folklore and sign language as part of the programme

There were 27 events at Franciscan Square during the Bratislava Christmas, 10 of which were interpreted into Slovak sign language ↗︎. More than 300 performers took to the stage, both famous and emerging bands, authors of books for children and adults, folklore ensembles as well as pupils of primary art schools. BKIS also hosted the programme in Klarisky and Janko Kráľ Park. However, the Advent programme has been held throughout the capital over the past few weeks - this year it involved several city organisations and, for the first time, all 17 city districts. The Bratislava Christmas on Franciscan Square will close with a concert by the Sendreiovci Gypsy Band. Their performance is scheduled for Saturday 23 December at 7:30 pm. The full programme can be found at Bratislavské Vianoce ↗︎.

Festive Rendezvous with the City

Even in between the holidays, you can explore the history of the city with BKIS tour guides. The guided tours entitled Rendezvous with the City are open to the general public, families with children, as well as to the blind, partially sighted and deaf communities The Rendezvous with the City walks are free of charge; all you have to do is sign up at BKIS ↗︎.

RENDEZVOUS WITH THE CITY FOR BLIND PERSONS 19 Dec | 1:00 pm| St Martin's Cathedral and the magic of Christmas in Pressburg | guided by Andrea Turanská 30 Dec | 2:00 pm | New Year's Eve Janko Kráľ Park | guided by Ľubomíra Černáková

RENDEZVOUS WITH THE CITY FOR THE DEAF COMMUNITY 23 Dec | 2:00 pm | Primate's Palace and the Christmas Peace | guided by Katarína Králiková 28 Dec | 2:00 pm | Courage, luck, power and glory - the richest families of Bratislava | Pavel Šimove

RENDEZVOUS WITH THE CITY FOR THE PUBLIC 23 Dec | 2:00 pm | The magical food of Christmas | guided by Zuzana Babušiak Petrášová 31 Dec | 2:00 pm | New Year's Eve | guided by Ľubomíra Černáková

RENDEZVOUS WITH THE CITY FOR FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN 24 Dec | 2:00 pm | Until Ježiško (Baby Jesus) comes | accompanied by Karin Stašková

Trees of the Christmas Forest have a new home

During the Bratislava Christmas you could see 36 trees decorated by children from primary, art and special schools on the Primate's Square. They are now being collected by representatives of social service homes and institutions where homeless people spend the holidays. Again, the public had the opportunity to suggest where the trees of the Christmas Forest will go. "I would like to donate the tree to Petra, a mother of four small children," wrote Lucia via a form. Some of the trees will also be given to families who could not afford to buy a Christmas tree.

"I am thrilled that our Christmas Markets enjoy a great attendance and that, for the people of Bratislava and visitors to our beautiful city, they are once again a place of both planned and random meetings, where we smile at each other and sincerely wish one another a Merry Christmas. The basic leitmotif of the Christmas holidays is not only family cosiness or the Christmas dinner table, but also togetherness and helping others. I am happy that our markets, in addition to a fantastic cultural programme and a varied range of stalls, once again have a major charitable dimension. Helping people with Alzheimer's disease, but also interpreting several events into sign language and giving guided tours of the city for the deaf, blind and partially sighted communities, as well as for people with mobility impairments, is a beautiful example of how Bratislava really is “a city for all”. I wish everyone a Happy Bratislava Christmas. Enjoy the Christmas markets and the days ahead. I hope that everyone will find here a true festive oasis of peace and joy," concludes Mayor Vallo.

The Bratislava Cultural and Information Centre (BKIS) is the city’s contributory organisation that implements and dramaturgically covers important city-wide cultural and social events (Bratislava Christmas, Bratislava City Days, Bratislava Cultural Summer, etc.). It creates the conditions for organising cultural events through open calls. BKIS also covers the oldest Tourism Guide Training Course in Slovakia, devoted to Bratislava. It organises a series of thematic guided walks, the Rendezvous with the City, and makes a podcast of the same name. It manages the Klarisky concert and exhibition hall and is responsible for restoration of the former Zora cinema and other premises on Biela 6.