Invitation to Trenčín 2026

Join us on the opening day of the European Cultural Summer in Trenčín 2026 for an open evening celebrating friendship, culture and connections between our two European Capitals of Culture! The Slovak city, just a few hours away from Slovenia, invites us to nearly 100 summer events that will bring streets, parks and unexpected public spaces to life, dedicated to art, music and urban creativity.

At 18:00, the doors of the EPICenter main hall will open, where representatives of the Slovak ECoC team, whose motto is “Awakening Curiosity”, will welcome you. At 18:30, program project managers for multigenre Martin Mazán and Katarína Rusinová  will present the upcoming programme and events.This will be followed by a conversation with GO! 2025 director Mija Lorbek about the highlights of the opening programme, innovative interpretations of cultural heritage through intermedia art, the vibrant summer cinema programme, and the parallels between European Capitals of Culture.

Successful projects that transformed castles and churches into impressive contemporary art spaces through intermedia art will also be presented. Visitors will discover the audiovisual installation “Touches – Temple of Light and Sound”, the interactive “Laser Harp”, projection mappings, light interventions and monumental installations that offered new perspectives on sacred buildings.

We will also invite you to summer events such as Splanekor – a playful artistic parade of floating sculptures on the Váh River – and present the summer cinema and youth programmes.

The evening will continue with a documentary film about the making of the opening ceremony and conclude with a pleasant borderless gathering accompanied by the sounds and flavours of Slovakia, Slovenia and Italy.