official site for visitors to Bratislava  

The city has a full calendar of festivals events, and regularly attracts large meetings and conventions. Check out our events calendar 2012.

THE PETRŽALKA Catholic Church of Our Lady of Sorrows (the patron saint of Slovakia) was due to receive a special arrival from Brazil on January 20, just after this issue of The Slovak Spectator went to print. At a special mass held in this modern church a sculpture of Our Lady of Aparecida, the patron saint of Brazil, is being enthroned after having travelled all the way from Brazil.

ABOUT 650 animals are being bred at Bratislava Zoo and last year the zoo recorded a baby boom. “The most recent newborn is a giraffe named Miss Salome, who will surely be popular with visitors,” Katarína Matejovičová of the zoo’s marketing department told the TASR newswire. Salome was born on December 4, 2011, to her parents Tejla, age 13, and Batar, age 14.

Enjoy your time in Bratislava with our weekly event guide! Guided tours, city festivals, sports, concerts, museums, galleries and much more..

AFTER spending more than two years in a ‘borrowed’ venue – the historical building of the Slovak National Theatre – the Slovak Philharmonic (SF) Orchestra and Choir will soon return home. The old “Reduta” building just opposite the national theatre, where the SF has been resident since 1949, has been undergoing a complete renovation and is almost ready to welcome the ensemble back.

Do you want to visit a 1st Winter MTB Marathon & Running Trophy, programme of most successful dances, songs and music of Folklore ensemble SĽUK or exhibition of Mikuláč Klimčík - Selection of Works? Read about these and other cultural events happening in Slovakia this week.

THE FINAL athletic event for 2011 was a mass run across all of Bratislava's bridges on New Year’s Eve, typically called Silvester in Slovakia because December 31 is the name day of Silvester. Nearly 1,000 runners took part in this symbolic farewell to the old year that has now been organised for 23 years.

Are you looking for some cultural events this week? To get some ideas, check our Countrywide Events column.

New Year's Eve Run across the Bratislava Bridges, Ice skating for the public, New Year's Concert by the Slovak Philharmonic, and various exhibitions... check out a selection of what's on countrywide in Slovakia from 19. December 2011 till 8. January 2012.

LEMONTREE, a restaurant in central Bratislava, has become the first Thai restaurant in Slovakia to be recognised by the Kingdom of Thailand’s Department of Export Promotion, in the form of its Thai Select award. The award is granted to qualifying restaurants outside Thailand, of which there are currently around 1,200 worldwide. Nongnuth Phetcharatana, Thailand’s ambassador to Austria, officially gave the award to representatives of the restaurant at a special ceremony on November 23.