Bratislava Cultural Summer

Concerts, theatrical fairy tales, curatorial lectures, guided walking tours, film screenings, multi-genre festivals: this is only a small snippet from the arts packed program of the Bratislava Cultural Summer, which is prepared for all Bratislava residents as well as all city visitors. The popular summer multi-genre festival will fill the capital’s public space from 24 June until the end of September. There are in total more than 330 events on offer on more than 50 city scenes.

"I am very pleased that we will be able to enjoy the culture on our streets, across Bratislava, on various stages, throughout the summer. Also, this year, the generous programme of Bratislava Cultural Summer is varied and designed for all ages. I believe that after two years we will be able to enjoy the combination of Bratislava summer and culture without significant restrictions," said Matúš Vallo, Mayor of Bratislava.

The city's largest cultural festival brings together

Support for civic activities and communities, as well as key projects related to the city, decentralisation of culture, cooperation with city organisations, city districts and embassies, as well as transparent selection of applicants for support and cooperation are the basic ideas of the festival. _” 71 applicants have signed up to the Open Call – Support and Cooperation challenge this year. Of these, 52 applications, approved by the expert committee, were included in the programme structure of the festival," says Katarína Hulíková, director of BKIS. _"We are very pleased that the Bratislava Tourist Board was also involved in the preparation of the festival which also supported several festival projects. Thanks to this cooperation, we managed to prepare generous and varied offer of culture, interesting for residents and visitors to the city," _she adds.

Cultural spot in Janko Kráľ's City Park

Last year, BKIS presented a new city cultural spot in the Janko Kráľ City Park. It consists of a monolith from the Othello performance located in the amphitheatre area near the SNP Bridge. The cultural spot will offer a regular programme:

• Monday exercises with yoga and Pilates elements at 18:00,
• Movie Wednesdays with Túlavé a Cestovateľske kino (Straying and Travelling Cinema),
• Thursday Feminine Debates prepared in cooperation with Denník N newspaper, presented by Katarina Strýčková with interesting guests talking not only about women for women,
• Friday concerts of Slovak bands and musicians such as jazz concerts by Nikolai Nikitin and Milo Suchomel Quintet (8 July), performance of the popular band Pressburger Klezmer Band (15 July) or gypsy music - band Sole (5 August).

Sundays will traditionally be reserved for families with children. The festival "We play for all" attracts Slovak and overseas puppet and alternative theatres.

Sunday fairy tales start at 11:00 in Klarisky and at 15:00 in the Janko Kráľ City Park. The popular Bratislava quizzes presented by Ludwig Bagin and guide Martin Záni, who will test the knowledge of the competing groups about the capital cannot be missed.

Culture in various places

BKIS, as the main “dramaturgist” and organiser of the Bratislava Cultural Summer, has this year also prepared the programme in a way, that it would be possible to experience the culture in various places. **Within the historical centre there will be two dominating cultural spots – Klarisky and the City Walls. ** In Klarisky, visitors can enjoy concerts, theatrical fairy tales, clothes swaps, but also the World Music Festival. Concerts and various community events will take place by the City Walls.

St. Jan Nepomucky Courtyard will also become a live cultural scene, where Playful Fridays in the courtyard will be held every other Friday. For fans of board games there will be a variety of board games available with a commentary from entertainers and chess games tutorials led by lecturers from the Bratislava Chess Academy.

New collaborations and festival regulars

The cooperation of BKIS with various organisers brings to Bratislava Cultural Summer this year a wide variety of programmes. The cooperation with the Bratislava Tourist Board will bring the very popular Bratislava Coronation Days during the last days of July (29 – 31 July 2022). This event invites people to the streets of the historical centre of Bratislava, to Bratislava Castle and Tyrš Embankment.

Visitors can also look forward to the summer open air festival Tribute Fest 2022 in the Amphitheatre in Rača (6 August), the International Festival of Contemporary Art The White Night (16 September – 18 September) and The Summer Academy of Fashion, which will climax in a fashion show in Janko Kráľ City Park (23 July) or Wild Poppies Gala Programme in Hviezdoslav Square (13 August).

The Bratislava Cultural Summer festival regulars won’t be missing this year either. These include the 46th year of the J. K. Mertz Guitar Festival. The six-day long festival (26 June – 1 July) will present exceptional guitar artists not only from Slovakia, but also from the Czech Republic, Italy, Croatia, France and Hungary.

The Summer Shakespeare Festivals invite to performances of comedies and tragedies by William Shakespeare – TheTwo Gentlemen from Verona, The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, and a premium performance of Hamlet in July and August

Visitors of the fourth year of Bratislava Theatre Nights (11 – 15 July, 15 – 19 August) will enjoy performances of Zuzanka, neplač (Zuzanka, don’t cry), Podivuhodné hodiny literatúry Hany a Matúša (Strange literature lessons of Hana and Matúš), Pliagy a Hnusoby (Plagues and Nasties), Shakespeare na ulici (Shakespeare in the street) and evening of music and theatre of Túlavé divadlo Trtúd (Straying Theatre Trtúd).

The fifth year of the “Commemoration of Dežo” art festival (10 September) will take place in the Fedakova Street Park in Dúbravka.

A special music festival Viva Música! will also be a part of the Bratislava Cultural Summer. The premiere of "For Seasons", a re-composition of Antonio Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons, will be on the 1 July.

We cannot forget the 13th year of the Cathedral Organ Festival (28 July – 15 September) and International Youth Festival (6 - 9 July).

While walking in the city, you can relax on the famous red chairs Sadni si! (Have a seat!). The co-operation of the city, BKIS, Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava and Slovenská sporiteľňa Foundation brought to the city’s public spaces a splash of colour by installing sets of red tables and chairs.

Events of city organisations, city districts and embassies

The programme structure of the Bratislava Cultural Summer will also be enriched this year by programmes of Bratislava organisations and city districts. Bratislava City Museum invites you to the curatorial lectures, guided walking tours and talks with authors of expert publications. Bratislava City Gallery prepares concerts, exhibitions and workshops for families with children. In the Bratislava City Library it will be possible to meet authors or take part in creative afternoons for children, workshops, play afternoons with board games or go to special reading picnics.

The city districts of Dúbravka, Karlova Ves, Lamač, Petržalka, Stare Mesto, Rača, Vajnory, Jarovce and Rusovce also prepared concerts, fairy tale performances, film screenings, sports activities, picnics or local dance halls – gaffs.

Embassies of various countries posted in Slovakia will present their culture and customs. Demonstrations of martial art aikido, concert of Japanese songs, preparation of makisushi and what the tea ceremony looks like will visitors find out during the Japanese Day (2 July). French delicacies can be tasted by visitors during the French Day (14 July).

Extended Rendezvous with the City

A series of popular guided walk tours around Bratislava – “Rendezvous with the City” gained a lot of fans throughout the year. The “Rendezvous with the City” also carries on during the summer months, even with more intensity. Walking tours, always based around an interesting topic, take place every Wednesday and Saturday. Special, families with children walks, take place on Sundays. A wide range of walking tours is complemented by guided sightseeing tours designed for new Ukrainian city residents, so that they, in addition to getting to know the history of the city, also discover places where they can make memories, encounter culture or relax in the outdoors.

Festival opening

The official opening of the Bratislava Cultural Summer will be marked by the popular sporting event bratislava-inline. From 19:00 on Friday, 24 June, there are various competitions prepared for the children, an inline skating kindergarten with an instructor and a drum show by the band Rytmika. The skaters taking part will take to the streets of the Old Town from the Kamenné námestie at 21:00.

The full programme of the festival can be found at [www.kulturneleto.sk ↗︎.] (https://www.bkis.sk/kulturne-leto/ ↗︎)