From Trenčín2026, with love

“Trenčín is the Manchester of Slovakia.” That is how students from the School of Applied Arts introduced me to their city. Relatively speaking, of course. But the comparison says something about the place: an industrial past, a region shaped by contemporary music, particularly through the Pohoda Festival, which has been held here for thirty years, and a particularly vibrant underground, DIY and garage scene.

Nestled on a patch of wasteland near the Váh River, between two railway lines and a road, the Garáž Festival has a dual ambition, both civic and cultural. On the one hand, to “reclaim” a largely inaccessible and unwelcoming area, with the longer-term aim of reconnecting the old town to the river for local residents. On the other, to give greater visibility to Slovakia’s emerging music scene. From alternative rock and garage to punk and electronic music, the concerts burst with energy and bring together audiences of all ages. Progressive and anti-fascist slogans, chanted together by artists and audiences on several occasions, also serve as a reminder that these independent scenes remain essential spaces for freedom and expression.

My visit to the Garáž Festival, produced by Trenčín 2026 – European Capital of Culture, was an opportunity to meet the Trenčín 2026 teams, exchange ideas with Slovak professionals working in music and contemporary creation, discover new artists and explore potential collaborations with cultural networks in Bourges and the surrounding region.

The professional meetings organised during and around the festival echoed concerns shared by cultural stakeholders across Europe: the mobility of artists, the need to support emerging scenes, and the challenges of funding contemporary artistic creation.

Discussions with the teams from Trenčín 2026, the French Institute in Bratislava, the World Music Festival Bratislava and Bratislava’s A4 Cultural Centre confirmed a shared ambition: to strengthen cooperation between our regions and across European countries, creating more opportunities for European artists and performance venues.

These conversations closely reflect the ambitions of Next Stage Europe, a programme developed by Bourges 2028 in partnership with the Printemps de Bourges festival, which encourages the mobility of artists and cultural professionals, fosters connections between European networks and supports the circulation of talent.

As I left Trenčín, one final parallel came to mind. With its 55,000 inhabitants, Trenčín, like Bourges, is a European Capital of Culture on a human scale, convinced that Europe is also built through exchanges between its artistic communities. This is precisely the conviction I take away from this trip, and one that Bourges 2028 will continue to bring to life in the years ahead.