SlavCon Bratislava

SlavCon will take place for the third time at the Faculty of Design and Architecture STU in Bratislava from 25 – 27 April 2025! Come and meet great people and listen to lectures on science fiction, fantasy, films, books, series, as well as future technologies and ecological challenges.

Take part in creative or movement workshops, check out the accompanying programme, meet interesting foreign and local personalities and above all enjoy a great weekend together with us.

SlavCon is a three-day festival of fantasy and pop culture, a space for a community of fans to meet, discuss, have fun and share their views on creations from the world of books, movies, series, games, even technological or ecological topics.

Every year, it offers a rich programme for all those who not only want to spend unforgettable moments with their friends, but also to meet new people with the same interests.

Program:

Festival Opening

Underground – Lecture (Kids friendly) – Friday 4pm (30 min.) – Tardis (auditorium)
SlavCon team
Opening of the festival and welcoming participants to the many lectures, workshops, baptisms. You will have a lot of fun and maybe even learn or teach something new.

The TCG Phenomenon – Collectible Card Games

Games – Lecture – Friday 4:30pm (1pm) – Cintra (ground floor P)
Sandra “Sany” Vanekova
Have you also had a huge collection of Pokémon cards at home, or maybe you have that weird friend who talks about their shiny cards with love and incomprehensible passion and you have no idea what it’s all about…?

Gamebooks – dive into the world of interactive stories

Literary Line – Workshop – Friday 16:30 (2 hrs.) – Exodar (ground floor L)
Senica Interactive Fiction (SIF)
Want to experience the world of text-based fantasy games from a developer’s point of view? Come create and design your own interactive gamebook!

From Utopia to Dystopia

Science Fiction – Lecture – Friday 16:30 (1 hour) – Tardis (aula)
Rado Čižmár
Imagine a world where there is no poverty, war or injustice. Such visions of utopian societies have fascinated us for centuries – from Thomas’s Utopia to today’s futuristic science fiction.

Military and Civilian Struggles in Slovakia at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries

History – Lecture – Friday 16:30 (50 min.) – Arrakis (1st floor P)
Peter Chorvát
The aim of the lecture is to present the military and civilian struggles in Slovakia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Opening of Hogwarts Weekend

Hogwarts Weekend – Other (Kids friendly) – Friday 17:00 (30 min.) – Gotham (underground)
Hogwarts Weekend
Hogwarts has been taken over by the Death Eaters and a new regime awaits the students.

A mutant octopus from the depths of space

Literary Line – Workshop – Friday 5pm (3 hrs.) – Bajor (1st floor L)
You can write too
You’re under siege! Writers Martin Hatala and Kam Pribišová are coming with battering rams to tear down the boundaries, roll up the bars and let your creativity free. So unlock your imagination.

The Devil’s Collection and Independent Filmmaking

Underground – Lecture – Friday 5:30pm (3pm) – Arrakis (1st floor P)
Marek Dobeš
A screening of The Devil’s Collection, a director’s commentary on the film, and a lecture on independent filmmaking, Choking Hazard. The Devil’s Collection. One filmmaker senses an opportunity.

The First Philosopher’s Stone

History – Lecture (Kids Friendly) – Friday 5:30pm (50 min.) – Gotham (Underground)
Martin “The Walker” KulhaThirty years before the birth of French accountant Nicolas Flamel, a book appeared in Europe that was destined to cause an outrageous amount of money to be laundered for a single purpose: to turn lead into gold.

The Dark and Infernal Worlds of the Cosmos

Science Fiction – Lecture – Friday 5:30pm (50 min.) – Tardis (auditorium)
Dusan Valent
Astronomers have discovered nearly 7,500 planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. This presentation will introduce the most humble worlds in terms of their expected appearance as well as the conditions that prevail on them.

Magic: The Gathering Commander Cup 2025 Tournament

Games – Competition – Friday 5:30pm (3pm) – Cintra (Ground Floor P)
Michal “Engeor” Laurinec
Sandra “Sany” Vaneková
Have you smelled the smell of stained cardboard and want to test how skilled you are at reading it come to the TCG Magic: The Gathering Tournament. Measure your strength against other players in the Commander format.

Become a Death Eater

Weekend at Hogwarts, Accompanying Program – Workshop – Friday 6pm (50 min.)
Weekend at Hogwarts
The 2025 school year has a surprising new fashion icon: Death Eaters! Black is in, faculty colors are out. If you weren’t counting on this usurpation, don’t despair, because anyone can become a Death Eater with a little effort.

Black Magic: Imperius

Weekend at Hogwarts – Game, Performance – Friday 6:30pm (1pm) – Gotham (Underground)
Weekend at Hogwarts
Michal “Engeor” Laurinec
With the Imperius Curse, there can be fun.

Captain Kate Mulgrew

Science Fiction – Lecture – Friday 19:00 (1 h 30 min) – Exodar (ground floor L)
Michaela Važanová
Kate Mulgrew is an American actress, made famous by her role as the first TV Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager. She is celebrating her life anniversary this year and her acting career is certainly rich and remarkable.

Table top games in the classroom – or School, DnD…

Games – Lecture – Friday 19:00 (50 min.) – Tardis (auditorium)
Janči Stankovič
School is a living place that evolves and it is logical that it should be open to new things.

Disaster films as a warning against the power of nature

Underground – Lecture – Friday 7:30 pm (50 min.) – Gotham (underground)
Peter Pavlík
Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Basic elements, but they can also be quite dangerous. In this lecture we will introduce the basic disaster movies that work with them. From the greatest classics to forgotten gems.

From space opera to post-apo: New sci-fi series under the magnifying glass

Sci-fi – Lecture – Friday 20:30 (50 min.) – Cintra (ground floor P)
Zuzka “Namu” Jakúbková

Sci-fi series have undergone a dynamic development in recent years, reflecting not only technological advances, but also social challenges.

Weirdness and its forms: from Lovecraft to Mellick

Science Fiction – Discussion – Friday 20:30 (50 min.) – Tardis (auditorium)
František “cyberstorm” Gago

Weird Fiction, New Weird, Bizarro. That doesn’t tell you anything does it?

Trench Crusade – what, why, how, who ?

Horror – Lecture – Friday 20:30 (50 min.) – Arrakis (1st floor P)
Vojtěch “Matulix” Matulík

Demons, monsters and religious fanatics settle their disputes in the mud, blood and indescribable filth of no-man’s land.

Knowledge Quiz

Underground – Competition – Friday 8:30pm (1hr 30min) – Bajor (1st floor L)
Rozumbrady
There will be lots of questions from the SlavCon festival program lines, as well as bonus questions. You’ll find out the team sizes and quiz progress right at the start.

Women in the Occult

History – Lecture – Friday 8:30pm (1 hr 30 min) – Exodar (Ground Floor L)
Tomas Kubisa
Witchcraft has historically been the domain of mostly women. But what about so-called High Magic, theurgy and demonology, astrology, alchemy, occult orders and secret lodges? Were these only men’s clubs? Not really.

Punishment in the dungeon

Weekend at Hogwarts – Game – Friday 21:00 (1 pm) – Moria (underground – pool)
Weekend at Hogwarts
Michal “Engeor” Laurinec
Someone has to put the old abandoned dungeons in order. Who else but naughty students?

Are you a Sissi too?

Workshops – Workshop (Kids friendly) – Saturday 10:00 (1 hr. 30 min.) – Moria (underground – swimming pool)
Teatro Olimpico Nuovo
Dance with us to the times of Elisabeth “Sissi” of Bavaria! The 19th century belonged to the waltz or quadrille, and nobody was bored on the dance floor. Come and learn the dances that were danced in the time of the popular Austrian Empress. You too can be Sissi!

How to make your own 3D accessories or video

Underground – Lecture (Kids friendly) – Saturday 10:00 (50 min.) – Arrakis (1st floor P)
Jozef Miklovič
Do you want to learn how to create the perfect 3D cosplay accessories or a 3D promotional video to promote an event or book? Want to create your own 3D merch? You can learn all this from the basics.

Anatomy of VFX

Future Earth – Lecture (Kids friendly) – Saturday 10:00 (50 min.) – Bajor (1st floor L)
Tomas “Dogfood” Kozlík
Visual effects are part of almost every movie today, whether we like it or not. The best ones can elevate the level of a film and the worst ones at least serve as internet memes.

Baptism: Voices of the Abyss

Literary Line – Lecture (Kids friendly) – Saturday 10:00 (50 min.) – Tardis (auditorium)
Dušan Valent

“We are Motu.” It was not the voice of a man, but the deafening whisper of an inhuman crowd.

Psychology Behind the Gates of Hogwarts

Weekend at Hogwarts – Lecture – Saturday 10:00 (50 min.) – Gotham (underground)
Petra “Nena Turner” Stoláriková
Psychological analysis of individual characters from the Harry Potter books.

Worlds cosmic and alternative

Science fiction – Lecture – Saturday 10:00 (1 hr. 30 min.) – Exodar (ground floor L)
Jan Kotouč

Writer Jan Kotouč, author of the series Central Empire, Sector Hirano and Czech Lands, will talk about his worlds cosmic and alternative history.

Artificial Intelligence and Disinformation

Future Earth – Workshop – Saturday 10:30 (2 hrs.) – Cintra (ground floor P)
Veronika “Lothmíril” Frankovská

Can AI detect AI? And can we humans detect it? Let’s try out some examples from the practice of fact-checkers who are more and more often confronted with false information created by artificial intelligence.

Tolkien Quiz

Fantasy – Contest – Saturday 11:00 a.m. (1 p.m.) – Arrakis (1st floor P)
Michal “Fealiath” Gendiar
Pencils sharpened, pens soldered? A traditional Tolkien quiz by organizer Fealiath will test your knowledge, and see if you’re familiar with the worlds of Professor Tolkien.

Totally dead on

Science Fiction – Lecture – Saturday 11:30am (1hr 30mins) – Tardis (auditorium)
František Kotleta
Vampires versus yellow aliens in a decisive battle! The time has come to crack down hard on the alien invaders! Freedom requires the ultimate sacrifice, and that applies not only to humans, but also to vampires.

Defending Against Black Magic

Weekend at Hogwarts – The Game – Saturday 11:30am (2pm) – Gotham (Underground)
Weekend at Hogwarts
Hogwarts itself will show you the way to defend yourself against the new dark leadership.

Arséne Lupin wasn’t the first

Fantasy – Lecture – Saturday 12:00 (1 pm) – Exodar (ground floor L)
Leonard Medek
Or rather he was the first, at least in the sense that he was the first to be given the adjective “robber-gentleman” by his author, which then became a label for the whole species.

Gamebooks – dive into the world of interactive stories

Literary Line – Workshop – Saturday 12:00 (2 pm) – Arrakis (1st floor P)
Senica Interactive Fiction (SIF)
Want to experience the world of text-based fantasy games from a developer’s perspective? Come create and design your own interactive gamebook!

Cyberbullying and Cosplay

Future Earth – Lecture – Saturday 12:00pm (1 hr 30 min) – Bajor (1st floor L)
Mina
Maxi
Hello, the world of internet and cosplay is slowly becoming a toxic place. Recently, the number of harassment or cyberbullying cases have increased. And this is just the topic we’re going to discuss.

Fantasy Painting Live

Fantasy – Performance (Kids friendly) – Saturday 1pm (1 hr 30 min) – Cintra (ground floor P)
Michal Ivan
Adrenaline painting with acrylic paints on paper with uncertain results. I will show and tell tips and tricks I use in my work. You can ask me questions about what you are interested in and I will try to paint something.

Baptism: Adventurer 5 – Lord of the Black Mirrors

Literary line – Lecture – Saturday 13:00 (30 min.) – Exodar (ground floor L)
Leonard Medek
Presentation of the book Adventurer 5: Lord of the Black Mirrors, reading of an excerpt and festive baptism with the organizers of SlavCon.

Slovak and Czech space opera

Sci-fi – Discussion – Saturday 13:00 (1 hr. ) – Tardis (auditorium)
František “cyberstorm” Gago

Discussion about Czech and Slovak space opera with Slovak and Czech editors and publishers Martin Králik, Robert Pilch and authors Ton Stiffel (Forgotten Universe series), Jan Kotouč (Central Empire and Sector Hi series)

Making terrain for wargaming from waste

Games – Workshop (Kids friendly) – Saturday 1:30 pm (2 hrs. ) – Exodar (ground floor L)
Matúš “Loki” Hyžný
In tabletop wargaming, terrain is often considered as a third army, without which it’s just not the same. However, branded products are expensive and putting them together is not nearly as much fun as when you can make everything yourself, so to speak, for a slap on the wrist.

Author vs. instagram

Fantasy – Discussion – Saturday 14:00 (1 h 20 min.) – Bajor (1st floor L)
Denisa Lesniaková
Which came first – the author or the instagrammer? Do the two personalities support or contradict each other?

Asian Horror in Video Games

Horror – Lecture – Sunday 11:30 a.m. (50 min.) – Gotham (Underground)
Martin Šugár
Asian horror games are characterized by such a distinctive atmosphere that they are perceived by many as a separate subcategory within the genre.
Games as a way to educate yourself and others
Games – Lecture (Kids friendly) – Sunday 11:30 (50 min.) – Exodar (ground floor L)
Verča

The lecture is dedicated to the topic of playing in life. How do board games unintentionally develop our skills and knowledge?

and much more…

You can find the complete program on the official SlavCon 2025 website.

Did you like it? Come and talk to the organizers and find out what SlavCon looks like from their point of view.

Location: Faculty of Architecture and Design, STU, Námestie slobody, Bratislava
Date: 25.04.2025 – 27.04.2025
Start: 16:00
Entry: 30 €

Join us for more great things to do and tips on the best BRATISLAVA EVENTS.