As a sign of solidarity, the bridge in Trenčín was lit up with the colours of the rainbow

In October, two young men were shot outside of bar Tepláreň, which has been a special safe place for queer people in Bratislava for years. The murder driven by hatred for otherness shocked us. Festival Pohoda initiated Slovenská Tepláreň – series of events of all genres happening across Slovakia as a sign of condolences to the families of the murdered Juraj and Matúš and as a sign of support for LGBTI+ people.

We joined the initiative with silent visual act of litting up the old railway bridge with the colours of the rainbow. It gained support of more than 200 subjects from Trenčín region. These were cultural and civic organizations, venues, festivals, artistic groups, companies and individuals who signed the joint memorandum.

You can read the memorandum here:

The murder of Juraj and Matúš affected us deeply. The realisation that Slovakia is a country where LGBTI+ people fear for their lives and have become a target for those who seek reasons for physical and verbal violence should shake our entire society. We consider this state of affairs unacceptable in a free democracy based on respect for everyone's fundamental human rights. We have decided to conclude the Slovenská Tepláreň initiative, organised by the Pohoda festival, with a silent visual act to express our condolences to the loved ones of Juraj and Matúš, our support for LGBTI+ people and our desire for safety, freedom and equality for all.

The main purpose not only of the European Capital of Culture, but also of culture in general, is to create an environment in which everyone is welcome, regardless of nationality, religion, health, socio-economic status or sexual orientation. All artistic genres have the power to reinforce the principles of equality, inclusion, democracy and cohesion.

But an open and accepting city is a task for all of us. We call for all spaces in Trenčín and the Trenčín region to be for everyone. Let us ask ourselves what we can do to make our business, organisation, school, office, café or public space where we meet safe for all? What can we do to make everyone feel accepted and feel that they belong here? The culture can help us to do this through its activities, but we have the power to act through our everyday acts of kindness, concern, acceptance and openness.

We have joined the Slovenská Tepláreň, initiative, organized by the Pohoda festival. It involved more than 600 entities – artists, venues, festivals, organisations and institutions, which organised more than 200 events of various genres across Slovakia, from concerts, discussions, film screenings, readings of literary works, theatre performances and visual arts.

List of signatories:

Trenčín 2026

Klub Lúč

Deadred Records

Vinyl lab

Artkino Metro

Mgr. Zuzana Mišáková DiS.art Mestské divadlo Trenčín 

Bez ladu a skladu

Autumnist

Nina Kohout

Captain Slice

Men at sound

Coffee Sheep

Dogma Divadlo

FS Nadšenci

FS Vršatec

Housemusic.sk

Wichitawacs

Film Square Festival

Braňo Jóbus

Abusus

Vrbovskí víťazi

Karpatské chrbáty

Fork Season

Priestor

Hlava 5

Pucle

Boris Vitázek

Bulp

FestArt

Kultúrne centrum Aktivity, o.z.

Světluše Rajnincová

Alena Karasová

Voices

Juraj Benda

Fallgrapp

Experimentálna inštitúcia wash-ed

PhDr Oľga Hodálová predsedníčka ŽNO TN

Synagóga Trenčín OZ

Anna Jančová 

TRAKT

CHVM

Gympelrock

Chris Ellys

Veronika Kostková

Rozhranie - acoustic sessions

Mišák Štramák

Uhol dopadu

Klub za rampami

KC Cooltajner 

World Wine Gallery

Analogrunner

Random Choices

Čili&cin'cin TN

Ži:va BnB

Trenčianska nadácia

Clicque

Matúš Oravec

Richard Ščepko

Trenčín na korze

Fleck community

HALA

Čierne na bielom

Neformálne združenie vonzoskrine

DASATO Academy (I AMbitious) 

Terézia Mihalovič Lukáčová 

Petronela Halamová

Radka Nedomová

Elýščitat

Slow.

Martin Petrík

Patrik Žák

Veronika Žák Sučanská

Peter Šurik

Marta Šuriková

Markéta Rajnincová