A year ago, Nova Gorica and Gorizia marked a historic opening by establishing the first cross-border European Capital of Culture in the history of the European Union. After one year, the GO! 2025 project has grown beyond the framework of a one-off cultural event and has established itself as a strategic development project with measurable effects in the fields of culture, tourism, cross-border governance, and international visibility. According to Hannes Heide, Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament, it was “the most outstanding European Capital of Culture to date.” The key benchmark of accountability in the evaluation year is clear: what remains after the title year.

With this very goal in mind, Nova Gorica and Gorizia built the project on sustainable content, infrastructure investments, and models of cooperation that extend beyond 2025. The result is a series of new permanent cultural venues: EPICenter, Super8, the renovated Transalpina/Europe Square, the renovated Nova Gorica railway station, a new amphitheatre, the refurbished Rafut Park, and the Gogi & Gigi playground. These newly created venues have been brought together on a shared map. Equally important outcomes include long-term programmes and strengthened institutional and political partnerships between the two cities. In this context, project representatives will travel to Strasbourg in the coming days, where, alongside a parliamentary session at the Council of Europe, they will present long-term strategies for extending the effects of the European Capital of Culture and open an exhibition that places the project within the broader European context of best practices in cross-border cooperation.

Having further deepened their cooperation through the European Capital of Culture, Nova Gorica and Gorizia will never again be the same as they were before this landmark project after 2025. The two cities are entering the future more closely connected than ever before. Through the project, an important shared hub has developed along the Nova Gorica railway station, becoming a meeting place for residents of both cities as well as domestic and international visitors, and a space with a distinctive cultural pulse, reinforced by the permanent exhibition City on the Border at EPICenter.

Cultural heritage as a driver of tourism and development

“It is of great importance that we continue to develop this area and further enhance it. With the team that, through the ECoC project, has developed specific competencies for organising large-scale, high-profile and international events, we should in the future develop cultural tourism, manage the cultural facilities of this border area, and develop programmes that emerged from the ECoC project for the benefit of both cities,” emphasised Samo Turel, Mayor of the Municipality of Nova Gorica.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond

He also highlighted the significance of the European Capital of Culture’s achievements for the future and continued development of the cross-border area: “We will continue activities and planning the development of programmes that emerged within the European Capital of Culture in 2026 as well, while also thinking about the future. The first event will be the programme marking the anniversary of the opening of the European Capital of Culture on 8 February, featuring a series of cross-border cultural events. In this context, a map of permanent European Capital of Culture venues was created—those locations that defined the events of 2025 and that will remain cultural venues in the years to come. We have also presented a set of activities and programmes for the year in which we are planning the long-term development of initiatives that evolved within the European Capital of Culture. In February, we are preparing a joint session of the municipal councils of all three founding municipalities of the EGTC GO, where discussions will also focus on the vision and further development of the cross-border area based on the ECoC. The European Capital of Culture continues to resonate abroad, which is why we have been invited to Strasbourg, where we will present our long-term strategies based on the ECoC. Above all, I stress the importance of ensuring the long-term effects of this project—primarily in our cross-border space—and the responsibility of all stakeholders towards this major investment in the further development of the city and the entire municipality.”

In light of the exceptionally strong interest in the area, its distinctive features, and its history—sparked by countless initiatives within GO! 2025—Gorizia Mayor Rodolfo Ziberna reflected on the legacy for the future: “The European Capital of Culture has not ended. We will therefore strengthen those major events and internationally significant cultural venues that define us. Among them is the DAG, the Digital Art Gallery, which transformed the Bombi Tunnel with the installation Meta Tunnel, created especially by Refik Anadol, into the largest digital tunnel in Europe. In our cross-border area, we intend to further encourage a spirit of connectedness and international cooperation, fully aware that culture is also a driving force capable of generating economic growth.”

The Director of the GO! 2025 Institute, Mija Lorbek, emphasised that the programme marking the Slovenian Cultural Holiday will be a full-day, cross-border event, taking place at the permanent venues of the European Capital of Culture. She also stressed that “together with Gorizia, we are resolutely continuing with the team that has, in recent years, developed competencies for demanding cross-border projects at the highest level. Since the results of the ECoC continue to resonate internationally even today, we are not slowing down during the transition year—we are continuing the programmes with a clear vision while also strengthening our own revenues in order to preserve and further build on the effects of this exceptional project in the long term.”

The Director of EGTC GO, Romina Kocina, presented the programme with which the GO! Centre will mark the first anniversary of the opening of the European Capital of Culture GO! 2025. “Through a photographic exhibition by Pierluigi Bumbaca, we will recall some of the highlights of 2025, while the SPF Kiss&GO project will playfully promote the importance of multilingualism. An exhibition on the history of EGTC GO is also on display. In addition, the evening before, a concert by Anima Aeterna will take place in the Gorizia auditorium, where the orchestra and local combined choirs will offer a musical tribute to the Capital,” the Director highlighted.

PROGRAMME FOR THE SLOVENIAN NATIONAL CULTURE DAY AND THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE OPENING OF THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE NOVA GORICA - GORIZIA 2025

7 February 2026
17:00 – Anima Aeterna concert, Friulian Culture Auditorium, Gorizia

8 February 2026 

10:00 – Create a 3D Portrait – workshops for children, Xcenter (North Primorska Regional Development Agency)

11:00 – Rok Peric: GO! infinity piX – opening of the photography and VR exhibition, Xcenter Gallery

12:00 – Traditional recital of Prešeren’s poetry (SNG Nova Gorica & JSKD Nova Gorica) and exhibition of 3D portraits created at Xcenter, Bevk Square

13:00 – Meeting with the Mayors of Nova Gorica and Gorizia with the opening of the photography exhibition Pierluigi Bumbaca: Objective GO! 2025, GO! Center

14:00 – Guided tour of the urban planning and history of Nova Gorica, (Blaž Kosovel, Magistrala Institute), Starting point: Xcenter

14:30 – City on the Border – guided exhibition tour, EPICenter

16:00 – The Legacy of GO! 2025 – round table discussion, EPICenter

17:00 – MN Dance Company – dance performance, EPICenter

17:30 – Jernej Humar: GO! WITH THE FLOW – opening of the photography exhibition, EPIC Gallery

18:00 – Alexander Gadjiev: Meeting Point – opening of the light and sound installation under the Solkan Bridge, with live broadcast at EPIC Café

18:30 – Lumoskop_lab: Stillness in Motion – light projection, EPICenter

19:00 – Musical programme, EPICenter

Programme at the GO! Center (Corso Verdi 51, Gorizia):

1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

• Kiss&GO Project (SPF GO! 2025) – an installation promoting bilingualism through a playful approach, suitable also for children

• Photography exhibition “Objective GO! 2025” – a collection of photographs from the year 2025 curated by Pierluigi Bumbaca, a photojournalist from Gorizia and witness to the extraordinary year of the European Capital of Culture

• EGTC GO – Building a common territory – an exhibition-narrative on the recent history of the border area and the main milestones achieved in the 15 years since the founding of EGTC GO

• SPF GO! 2025 – A year of projects – video testimonials of projects implemented in the area thanks to the Small Project Fund (SPF GO! 2025) of the Interreg Italy–Slovenia Programme

1:00 PM
Meeting with the mayors of Nova Gorica and Gorizia, Samo Turel and Rodolfo Ziberna, one year after the inauguration of GO! 2025, followed by the opening of the photography exhibition