Registration has officially opened for Saab Session Slovakia 2026, with this year’s gathering scheduled for October 2 – 4 in Liptovská Osada, at Resort Gothal in Slovakia’s Liptov region.
The organizers began accepting applications on August 9, but owners considering the trip should pay particular attention to one number: 99 cars. Registration remains open until August 31 only if that capacity has not already been reached. The official event page explicitly states that the organization is limited to 99 participant cars.
The opening was also announced by Saab Assistance, which expects another strongly international turnout and directed owners toward the Saab Session Slovakia Facebook page and the official registration site.
Saab Assistance described the expected gathering as 100-plus Saabs from more than ten countries. That figure does not necessarily conflict with the 99-car participant ceiling, since the organizing team’s cars are additional to the registered participant limit.
Recent Attendance Explains the 99-Car Limit
There is good reason not to treat that capacity as a theoretical number.
The 2024 Saab Session Slovakia gathering in Tále officially recorded 117 cars, 257 participants and visitors from 11 countries. The registered cars ranged from a 1964 Saab 96 two-stroke to a 2012 Saab 9-5 NG SportCombi Aero.
SaabPlanet later returned to that meeting when new aerial footage appeared in Saab Session Slovakia 2024 From a New Angle. The drone footage provided a particularly good view of the scale of the Saab convoy and the gathering in Banská Bystrica.
For anyone deciding whether to register now or wait until later in August, that 117-car turnout in 2024 is probably the most useful comparison. The 2026 organization is accepting fewer participant cars than arrived two years earlier.
Three Days at Resort Gothal
The 2026 base is Resort Gothal in Liptovská Osada, close to the Low Tatras and between Liptovská Osada and Liptovská Lúžna.
Gothal combines several types of accommodation with restaurants, swimming facilities, wellness services and other recreational facilities within the same resort. For Saab Session Slovakia, this is particularly useful because accommodation and the main meeting program can operate around a single base rather than requiring participants to move between hotels and the event site.
The organizers have already published the framework of the 2026 program, although the main Saturday activities have not yet been finalized.
On Friday, October 2, participants can arrive at Resort Gothal from 4:00 p.m. for registration and check-in. The first Saab Session Slovakia Soirée is scheduled from 6:00 p.m. until midnight.
On Saturday, October 3, registration continues between 7:45 and 8:30 a.m. The organizers currently list the remainder of Saturday’s schedule as still being prepared rather than publishing activities before they are confirmed.
Sunday’s detailed program is also still to be finalized. The official farewell, hotel check-out and final opportunity for participants to exchange contacts are scheduled between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. on October 4.
That distinction matters for anyone registering now: the event, venue, accommodation arrangement and registration conditions are confirmed, while parts of the driving and activity program will be announced later.
Registration Is €50 Per Person
Registration is handled through the official Saab Session Slovakia 2026 website.
Applicants must complete the online registration form and can also submit a photograph of their Saab. The organizers use those images when presenting participating cars on the event website.
The registration fee is €50 per person, while children under 15 attend without paying the event fee. Registration and accommodation requests are accepted from August 9 through August 31, unless the 99-car capacity is reached sooner. Payment must be completed by September 3, 2026.
According to the organizers, the registration fee includes the event program, merchandise and the Saab Session Slovakia Soirée II dinner.
The website is available in several languages, which is useful considering the international participation the meeting regularly attracts:
English | Slovak | Polish | German | Hungarian
Do Not Book Gothal Separately
There is one accommodation detail that potential participants should not overlook.
Although Resort Gothal normally accepts its own reservations, Saab Session Slovakia participants must arrange their accommodation through the event registration form. The organizers have negotiated a customized arrangement with the resort, so the Saab meeting accommodation should not be booked independently.
The published event rates are:
- €60 per adult per night
- €35 per night for a child under 15 requiring a separate bed
- Free for children under six without a separate bed
Breakfast and access to the swimming pool are included. Accommodation is not included in the €50 event fee, and accommodation charges must also be paid by September 3.
An adult staying for both Friday and Saturday nights should therefore allow €170 for registration and accommodation before fuel, travel costs and additional meals.
SaabPlanet Has Followed the Slovak Meeting for Years
Saab Session Slovakia has developed considerably since its earlier editions, and SaabPlanet’s archive provides a useful record of that progression.
The 2015 meeting in Liptovský Ján is especially relevant to this year’s location because the event was already operating in the Liptov region more than a decade ago.
A year later, the gathering moved to Ružomberok-Hrabovo. SaabPlanet covered both the 2016 event announcement and the subsequent video report from Saab Session Slovakia 2016.
The 2017 meeting brought together 60 Saab cars and 136 participants, while the following year’s meeting at Krompachy-Plejsy was documented in Saab Session Slovakia 2018.
The 2019 edition in Bojnice remains one of the more useful comparisons with today’s international character of the gathering. The official statistics recorded 80 cars, 180 people and nine countries.
SaabPlanet first published the 2019 event announcement and followed it with a detailed Saab Session Slovakia 2019 Report.
One figure from Bojnice still stands out. Levan Turabelidze drove his 2011 Saab 9-5 NG Aero from Tbilisi, Georgia, a recorded distance of 3,190 kilometers, earning the award for the participant who had traveled the farthest.
Even 2020 Did Not Stop the Meeting
The contrast with Saab Session Slovakia 2020 is equally revealing.
Under the exceptional travel and public-event conditions of that year, the Vršatec meeting was reduced to 23 cars and 40 people from five countries. Yet the organizers still managed to hold an international Saab gathering rather than cancel the event entirely.
That makes the subsequent recovery to 117 cars and 257 people in 2024 a more meaningful measure of how strongly the meeting has developed than simply counting the number of editions.
August 31 May Not Be the Real Deadline
Anyone planning to attend Saab Session Slovakia 2026 therefore has two deadlines to consider.
The formal registration deadline is August 31.
The practical deadline is the moment the 99th participant car is accepted.
Given that the 2024 gathering reached 117 registered cars, waiting until the final days of August carries an obvious risk.
The detailed Saturday itinerary can be added to the calendar later. A registration place cannot.
For applications, accommodation arrangements and subsequent program updates, the safest reference remains the official Saab Session Slovakia 2026 website, with additional updates available through the official Facebook page.
