Brno is hitting its stride, and makers are leading the charge. Often overshadowed by its larger neighbor, Prague, the city likes to joke that it is merely a village. However, with a substantial population and roughly 80,000 students calling it home, there is nothing small about its immense creative energy. A potent mix of young people, ambitious ideas, and a healthy appetite for technology, traditional craft, and hands-on experimentation has turned Brno into extraordinarily fertile ground for the maker movement.
Since launching in 2019, Maker Faire Brno has expanded significantly, growing to welcome around 7,500 visitors and several hundred makers from across Czechia and beyond. Fab Lab Brno has served as a key partner to the Make More team—the organizers behind all of Czechia’s Maker Faires—helping to build the community one maker at a time. The momentum continues to build as Maker Faire Brno returns for its eighth edition, bringing together a diverse community of creators, engineers, artists, and curious minds.
The venue itself is a vital part of the event’s magic. Brno’s Exhibition Halls are tailor-made for a Maker Faire, offering striking architecture, soaring ceilings, floods of natural light, an integrated planetarium, a sprawling main hall, and plenty of architectural nooks and crannies to explore. Around every corner, attendees encounter curiosity in action, clever engineering, creative experiments, and serious maker talent spanning various disciplines.
At the heart of the local maker ecosystem is Prusa Research, a driving force behind the explosion of Maker Faires across the Czech Republic. As a global showcase for Czech ingenuity, Prusa’s integrated, in-house approach to manufacturing demonstrates what happens when making is placed at the absolute core of a business model. Bringing its signature maker spirit directly to Brno, the company is also hosting a high-profile Maker Challenge this year. Participants are invited to show how a clever idea and 3D printing can give discarded items a second life as useful, functional tools, with a brand-new Prusa 3D printer on the line for the winner. For those unable to make it to Brno, Prusa will also exhibit at Maker Faire Rome the following week.
Maker Faire Brno serves as a space where traditional boundaries between engineering, art, science, and everyday problem-solving dissolve. The 2026 lineup highlights a vast breadth of creativity, ranging from 3D-printed loudspeakers and DIY electronics to innovative uses for garden waste, accessible technology, and hands-on mechanical tinkering.
Among the standout projects featured in the maker directory is "Acoustika 3D," a custom-designed, 3D-printed loudspeaker created by SIMPLIXITY, which bridges a love for Drum & Bass music with advanced engineering and enclosure design. Another striking project is "Sublisica" by maker Jan Grygerek, which transforms tiny frozen soap-bubble crystals into a surprising fusion of photography, chemistry, and design using a custom-built engraving machine designed to preserve fleeting patterns on glass.
Environmental sustainability and resourcefulness also figure prominently in the exhibition. The "Biouhel" project demonstrates how piles of pruned garden branches can be converted into biochar, a porous, carbon-rich material that helps soil retain water and nutrients while offering potential long-term carbon-storage benefits. Meanwhile, traditional mechanics and everyday items are explored through hands-on exhibits like the bearings workshop, where visitors can learn the tools and techniques required to remove and reinstall bearings from skateboards, bikes, and roller skates.
Academic and student innovation plays a central role at the fair. Masaryk University’s computer science labs are presenting physical computing projects that turn abstract algorithms into tangible experiences, such as a robot that draws with a pen and a marionette controlled entirely by human movement. Brno University of Technology is showcasing "KAMaRAD," a prototype combining sensors with millimeter-wave radar to detect potential hazards and protect cyclists and other vulnerable road users. Another high-performance student project features a 3D-printed RC jet boat powered by a water pump and controlled by an ESP32 chip, which wirelessly transmits real-time GPS speed, battery voltage, and component operating temperatures to shore.
Artistic expression and music technology are similarly well-represented. The "RaveBOX" audio synthesizer invites attendees to twist knobs, build rhythms, and explore unexpected electronic sounds, evolving from a playful experiment into a fully fledged musical instrument. For younger makers and tactile creators, projects like "Baťa Customs" offer the chance to build, paint, and customize traditional wooden gravity racers, bringing together craft and mechanical thinking without the need for batteries.
Beyond admiring innovative exhibits, Maker Faire Brno emphasizes active participation through a comprehensive lineup of workshops. Spanning short introductions and intensive 90-minute sessions, these workshops cater to children, teens, adults, and families alike, covering 3D printing, robotics, electronics, space engineering, textiles, and traditional crafts. Attendees can design and print space-themed objects, explore ceramic 3D printing, build and program Otto robots, assemble combat robots, or learn the basics of soldering.
Advanced tinkerers have the opportunity to explore STM32 microcontrollers or construct working digital clocks using NXP development boards. Space enthusiasts can build working CubeSat models alongside the student space team YSpace, design space-inspired objects with rocket team SoRC, or launch water rockets powered by compressed air and water. Smart device fabrication is also featured through LaskaKit workshops, where participants can build Wi-Fi-connected e-paper information displays.
Bridging the gap between analog tradition and modern technology, the Nitlab workshop invites participants to use punch cards to control industrial knitting machines and create patterned scarves. Additional craft-focused sessions allow visitors to design jewelry, experiment with ceramic printing, and discover how digital manufacturing is transforming fashion and footwear.
The experiential nature of the event extends to the Repair Zone, where visitors can observe how broken household objects and electronics are brought back to life, aligning with the broader right-to-repair movement. Complementing the hands-on areas, the main stage hosts a diverse schedule of talks, demonstrations, and presentations. Saturday’s programming features a 24-hour Student Hardware Hackathon, space exploration insights from ESERO Czech Republic, spectacular science experiments, and discussions on Arduino development and the aurora borealis. Sunday highlights hackathon winners, DIY digital footwear, student-built artificial intelligence projects, experimental design, and an open microphone session for makers eager to share their ongoing creations with the community.
