Bratislava decorates the city with good news

The capital of Slovakia is reminding people to look on the bright side of life

Whether you are watching television at home, listening to the radio in your car or swiping through Facebook in your free time, you will undoubtedly stumble upon bad news. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, upsetting information has increased significantly, flooding the internet and media. 

Choosing to focus on the positive, the Slovak author Martin Smatana wrote a book titled “The Year of Good News”. To create his book, Smatana found and wrote one good news every week in 2021. Now, he has collaborated with the City of Bratislava and the Bratislava Cultural and Information Centre to spread positivity in the Slovak capital.

As part of this collaboration, beautiful illustrations and excerpts from the book decorate Bratislava's streets to lift citizens’ spirits. In addition to this, they encourage them to take note of the positive things around them in the new year. 

Good news is not that hard to find

Commenting on his book, the author shared that good news is not all that rare and that it often concerns seemingly unremarkable acts. Taking this further, he explained that good things happen daily but that they seldom reach a wide audience as the weight of big events and bad news bury them. 

In “The Year of Good News”, Smatana includes over 50 heart-warming stories from around the globe. Taking a case in point, the book reminds people of how neighbours used to play music and sing from their balconies during the COVID lockdowns.

Now, Bratislava's residents and tourists can remember these events when walking through the city. To see the illustrations in the Slovak capital, view the gallery above.