World Music Festival Bratislava

World Music Festival Bratislava – new venues, new names, new experiences. The eleventh edition of the World Music Festival in Bratislava will take place from September 19 to 21, 2025, at various locations in the historic center of Bratislava, such as Kácečko, Pink Whale, Moyzes Hall, Letná čitáreň u Raka, Teatro Colorato, and Hviezdoslavovo námestie, featuring musicians from Slovakia and abroad.

This year’s festival will offer flamenco, tango, gypsy jazz, DJ sets, Balkan music, Roma folk music, and experimental projects. The main stars of the festival include the legendary Finnish band Värttinä, the Polish tango quartet Bandonegro, Spanish flamenco dancer María Moreno, and the Syrian Sufi ensemble Jawa. There will also be performers from Slovakia, such as Martin Štefánik, Pekovci, Páni času, and Ildikó Kali Trio.

Have you missed flamenco and tango at the festival so far? The first day will feature top-class foreign representatives of these genres. The theme is world music and emotions in dance.

The second day will focus on the relationship between world music and spirituality in various forms with outstanding musical guests.

The third day will feature concerts by Slovak artists with innovative and traditional interpretations of folk music.

Program:

Friday, September 19, 2025

On Friday, September 19, Bandonegro, María Moreno, and Lenhart Tapes will perform as part of the World Music and Emotions in Dance concert series. The Polish quartet Bandonegro, consisting of piano, double bass, violin, and bandoneon, is one of the top tango groups, with numerous music awards and concerts in more than 30 countries around the world. Their work includes traditional Argentine tango, tango nuevo, as well as their own compositions with elements of jazz.

The María Moreno Ensemble from Cádiz, whose main star is currently one of the best flamenco dancers in the world, will have its Slovak premiere. María Moreno has performed with extraordinary success not only in Spain, but also in leading venues in London, Paris and New York. Polish and Spanish performers will perform at the renovated Arena Theater.

The first day of the festival will end on the Pink Whale boat thanks to the Serbian project Lenhart Tapes, inspired, among other things, by Slovak and Balkan folk music. If you have never danced to the music of a DJ who mixes sounds from cassette tapes, accompanied by a singer and violinist, come to the concert of Vladimir Lenhart and Tijana Stanković.

Saturday, September 20, 2025

The second day of the festival – Saturday, September 20 – will begin with an afternoon showcase of local performers at the House of Music on Panenská Street. The Ildikó Kali Trio will perform a concert version of their award-winning album Jore, Jore, followed by Miloš Biháry’s Django Gypsy Jazz Trio, inspired by gypsy swing, and the vocal group Izvor.

The evening program will take place at the Karloveské Cultural Center and will focus on the theme of world music as a spiritual journey. For the first time in Slovakia, top musicians will perform live the mystical Sufi music of Syrian musicians from Aleppo, who call themselves Jawa. Their performance will also feature a true master of the Dervish order, who will give you a glimpse into the world of whirling dervishes.

Another foreign performer on Saturday evening will be the world-famous Finnish group Värttinä, which has been on the scene for several decades and is one of the founders of the world music scene in Northern Europe. This year, after a ten-year hiatus, they released the successful album Kyly (which topped the World Music Charts Europe in July), inspired by the music of Karelia, a region on the border with Russia with a distinctive musical tradition. The sextet consists of three great singers, including one of the group’s founders, Mari Kaasinen, and three exceptional musicians.

Sunday, September 21, 2025

The last day of the festival is a tribute to Slovak music in its various forms, reflecting both traditions and completely new forms. First, the afternoon showcase at the House of Music will feature the experimental trio Bodnárová – Szabó – Nosáľ and the groups Páni času and Samaria Klezmer Band, focusing on medieval music and klezmer.

The final evening concert in Klarisky will feature the original Romani folk band Pekovci from Eastern Slovakia, finalists of the 2024 Radio_Head Awards, who maintain the folklore repertoire of their ancestors. They will be followed by the well-known musician and composer Martin “Majlo” Štefánik with a performance of STEFANIK Suite Almanach site-specific. It will be a live version of the 2023 recording Suite Almanach, using the sounds of archetypal Slovak traditional musical instruments, but also new post-digital kinetic sound objects, electronics and human voices. He will be joined by Jonatán Pastirčák and singers Nina Kollárová and Terézia Jacová, former members of the band Ľudové mladistvá.

Save the date and come and be inspired by music from all over the world!

Location: Old Town, Bratislava
Date: 19.09.2025 – 21.09.2025
Start: 8:00 – 23:00
Entrance: 9 – 33 €

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