BKIS will help you organise your event, applications accepted up to the end of October

If you are planning to host a cultural or community event in Bratislava next year, you can apply to the Bratislava Cultural and Information Centre (BKIS) for help with its organisation. The closing date for the current round of applications in the Open Call system is 31 October. The BKIS has a new venue on offer at 6 Biela Street

Event organisers can apply for support in the Open Call system via the form OC1 – Support and Cooperation ↗︎. You need to have a finished project with a clear dramaturgy and implementation plan. The city organisation can loan equipment, install a stage, sound system, lighting or provide spaces that are under its management. You can choose the Klariska concert hall with a capacity of 200 seated spectators or, for the first time, the spaces at Biela 6 suitable for smaller events such as workshops, discussions, screenings, literary readings or exhibitions.

Closing date at the end of October

Deadline for submission of the OC1 – Support and Cooperation ↗︎ form is 31 October 2023. The current call is intended for events taking place from 1 February to 31 May 2024 and later. The premises on Biela Street are available from 1 March to 31 May 2024. By the end of November 2023 a committee consisting of a BKIS representative, a representative of the city and a representative of the professional public will determine which projects are to receive support. All approved applications will automatically receive marketing support.

What projects are most likely to succeed

The priority of the BKIS open call is to support civic activities and communities in Bratislava, to develop public spaces and to create better conditions for making culture more accessible throughout the city. Individuals, self-employed persons, civic associations, non-profit organisations, foundations, informal initiatives, as well as commercial entities, are all eligible for support. Applicants do not have to be based in Bratislava but it is important that their event takes place in the city. Preference will be given to projects taking place in the city districts, fulfilling BKIS's long-term commitment to decentralise culture in Bratislava.

"Our aim is to support the creators of urban culture who bring diverse artistic or social events to the city," says Katarína Hulíková, BKIS director. "I would especially like to encourage neighbourhood groups or diverse communities operating in Bratislava to feel free to submit their projects." The events should be available to the public and promote the values of an open society. The scoring of applications is based on published evaluation criteria ↗︎ to ensure transparent selection of the highest quality projects.

Dancing, music and community market

BKIS launched the Open Call in February 2022 and to date has helped organise 238 events of various genres via the OC1 - Support and Cooperation form, such as Convergence, the international chamber music festival, the popular community Good Market, the contemporary dance festival Bratislava in Motion, as well as smaller events of the informal initiative Kopec susedov, the multi-genre festival Live Racko, and the neighbourhood initiative that annually organises the Spomienka na Deža event.

All important information about the call, forms, list of available equipment, as well as the full version of the evaluation criteria for the applications received can be found at Open Call ↗︎.

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.