From Trenčín 2026, with love

February 2026 – Frédéric Hocquard, General Delegate

In 2026, the city of Trenčín, in Slovakia, holds the title of European Capital of Culture. This time, the focus shifts to the east of Europe.

For me, it was a first. I didn’t know Slovakia-apart from a visit when I was still in high school, just before the fall of the Wall.
In the Western imagination, it often remains associated with a vague “East”, somewhere between the Carpathians and the Ukrainian borders, shaped by literary representations that can feel harsh or untamed. Added to this was a concerning political context: the country is led by Robert Fico, a nationalist figure with divisive positions and openly expressed ties to Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
I wondered how the Trenčín 2026 team would manage to embody the founding values of a European Capital of Culture: freedom of creation, diversity, and European openness.

Opening ceremonies are always highly symbolic moments, where history and politics intertwine.
I still recall Marseille 2013 and its plea for cultural exception, or more recently Chemnitz 2025, marked by a powerful call for living together in a city shaped by far-right tensions.

It was with these questions in mind that I arrived in Trenčín. And I can say it without hesitation: I witnessed a real success.

The first moment I attended was the official ceremony. The mayor delivered a deeply pro-European speech, making sure to acknowledge the Ukrainian cause, and concluding with these words:

“I am convinced that the title of European Capital of Culture will bring not only Trenčín and our region closer, but also Slovakia as a whole, to the values of humanity, truth, respect, kindness, and freedom.”

The city was in celebration. Food trucks offered local specialties-pirohy, sausages, and other sweet treats-far from the ubiquitous burgers so often found at this kind of event.
I also discovered the work of Stano Filko, a Slovak painter I was not familiar with, whose use of colour particularly struck me.

The ceremony, held in the city centre, was dynamic and generous, blending dance, traditional music and contemporary forms-without slipping into overt folklore.
And it is impossible not to mention the volunteers. Five hundred volunteers-for a city of just fifty thousand inhabitants-welcomed visitors with remarkable energy. They even wrote a manifesto, read at the close of the ceremony by the general director of Trenčín 2026, the excellent Stani.
A powerful text, grounded in humanist values, quoting Marcus Aurelius-Roman emperor, philosopher, and founder of the city: “Wherever you can live, you can live well.” A sentence that resonates strongly in a Europe today marked by growing temptations of withdrawal.

The evening stretched late into the night, shifting into a more festive mood (old habits die hard). A concert by a German rock band-perhaps a little too macho for my taste-was followed by a lively and upbeat set from the French electro duo No Sex Last Night, bringing the day to a close.

The next day, after a slightly late start, we stopped in Teplice, a nearby spa town, blanketed in snow.
Soviet-era architecture from the 1960s stood alongside elegant early 20th-century hotels, creating an almost surreal setting. A brief interlude at the spa gave me the chance to confirm that no ghosts were actually haunting the place—and to recover from the excesses of the night before.

I left Trenčín with a stronger conviction: a European Capital of Culture is never a neutral event. It is a deeply political act—a space where struggles for freedom, emancipation, and an open Europe are affirmed.

Something Stani and his team embodied with remarkable strength.

An inspiring experience. And a valuable one, as 2028 approaches.