Brno is hitting its stride, and makers are leading the charge. Often playfully overshadowed by Prague, Czechia’s second-largest city likes to joke that it is merely a village, but with a massive population and a vibrant student body of roughly 80,000, there is nothing small about its creative energy. Fueled by young people, big ideas, and a healthy appetite for tech, craft, and hands-on experimentation, Brno has established itself as fertile ground for making.
Since launching in 2019, Maker Faire Brno has steadily expanded its footprint, 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 organization behind all of Czechia’s Maker Faires—helping to build the community one maker at a time. Returning for its eighth edition, the festival continues to build unstoppable momentum, bringing together innovators, engineers, artists, and educators for a weekend dedicated to hands-on invention.
The venue itself is a fundamental part of the event’s magic. Brno’s Exhibition Halls are tailor-made for a Maker Faire, boasting striking architecture, soaring ceilings, floods of natural light, an integrated planetarium, a sprawling main hall, and plenty of nooks and crannies to explore. Around every corner, attendees encounter curiosity in action, clever engineering, creative experiments, and serious maker talent.
Prusa Brings Its Maker Spirit Home
As a driving force behind the explosion of Maker Faires across the Czech Republic, Prusa Research is once again putting its maker spirit to work right at home in Brno. Following recent showcases at international events like Maker Faire Bay Area and ahead of Maker Faire Rome, Prusa stands as a shining example of Czech ingenuity. Its integrated, in-house approach to manufacturing proves what can happen when making is placed at the very heart of a business.
This year, the stakes are elevated with a shiny new tool on the line: a brand-new Prusa 3D printer. Attendees are invited to take part in the official Maker Challenge by demonstrating how a clever idea and 3D printing can give discarded items a second life as useful, functional tools. Successful participants just might head home with a brand-new printer to fuel their next big idea. For those unable to make it to Brno this weekend, the company will also be exhibiting at Maker Faire Rome the following week.
Ten Projects Highlighting the 2026 Lineup
Maker Faire is where the boundaries between engineering, art, science, and everyday problem-solving get delightfully blurry. A cross-section of projects from the Brno floor showcases the incredible breadth of the lineup, moving effortlessly from 3D-printed audio equipment and DIY electronics to innovative uses for garden waste, accessible technology, and hands-on mechanical tinkering.
Among the standout exhibits is Acoustika 3D, showcasing a custom-designed, 3D-printed loudspeaker dubbed SIMPLIXITY. Born from a shared love of Drum & Bass, engineering, and 3D printing, the project invites visitors to look inside, explore its internal components, and discover how enclosure design directly shapes sound quality.
In another corner of the exhibition hall, maker Jan Grygerek presents Sublisica, a surprising fusion of photography, chemistry, and design centered around tiny frozen soap-bubble crystals. When off-the-shelf equipment proved insufficient for capturing these fleeting geometric patterns, Grygerek designed and built his own specialized engraving machine to preserve them permanently on glass.
Environmental sustainability and resourcefulness also take center stage through projects like Biouhel, which tackles the problem of garden waste. By transforming piles of pruned branches into biochar—a porous, carbon-rich material—the project demonstrates how yard waste can be converted into a valuable resource that helps soil retain water and nutrients while offering potential long-term carbon-storage benefits.
Academic institutions are heavily represented, notably through Masaryk University’s computer science labs, where abstract concepts are translated into physical reality. Researchers are showcasing interactive exhibits, including a robot that draws using a pen and a marionette controlled entirely by human movements. These research projects successfully transform complex algorithms, robotics, and human-computer interaction into tangible experiences that bridge maker education and hard science.
Commercial and educational playgrounds for manufacturing are also well-represented by platforms like 3Dfil.cz, which invites visitors to explore materials, equipment, and examples spanning FDM, resin printing, and specialized high-strength applications. Nearby, an interactive bearings workshop gives visitors of all ages a chance to practice removing and reinstalling bearings—the critical mechanical components that keep skateboards, bikes, and roller skates rolling—learning the tools and techniques required for basic mechanical maintenance.
Addressing modern infrastructure and safety, the Brno University of Technology presents KAMaRAD, a prototype combining standard sensors with millimeter-wave radar to detect potential road hazards. Designed to look out for vulnerable road users like cyclists when visibility is tricky, the project highlights how student innovation can address real-world urban safety challenges.
For those who prefer analog craftsmanship and kinetic energy, Baťa Customs offers a mobile workshop where visitors can sand, paint, assemble, and customize their own wooden gravity racers. With no batteries required, the project bridges traditional craft, mechanical thinking, and the timeless thrill of building a toy that moves under its own momentum.
Sound and electronics enthusiasts can explore RaveBOX, an experimental creation that blends a synthesizer with a sequencer. Designed to encourage hands-on tweaking, the project invites users to twist knobs, build rhythms, and discover unexpected sounds, evolving from a playful electronics experiment into a fully fledged musical instrument.
Engineering complexity reaches new heights with a high-performance 3D-printed RC jet boat equipped with on-board telemetry, developed by university makers. Powered by a water pump and jet propulsion system, the craft combines durable engineering polymers, high-current power supplies, and custom onboard telemetry controlled by an ESP32 chip. The system wirelessly transmits GPS speed, battery voltage, and operating temperatures back to the shore in real time, showcasing the intersection of advanced hobbyist engineering and rigorous testing.
Getting Busy and Learning by Doing through Workshops
Maker Faire Brno is designed not merely as an exhibition space, but as an active environment where visitors can roll up their sleeves and build something themselves. The workshop program spans a remarkable range of disciplines, including 3D printing, robotics, electronics, space engineering, textiles, and hands-on crafts, catering to curious kids, budding engineers, and seasoned tinkerers alike.
Sessions range from 30-minute introductory overviews to immersive 90-minute deep dives, with tailored activities for children, teens, adults, and families. While some workshops begin with absolute fundamentals, others offer participants the chance to master the exact tools and techniques utilized by professional engineers and designers, often leaving attendees with a tangible creation to take home.
Beginners in 3D printing can design and print space-themed objects, while more adventurous makers explore ceramic 3D printing and parametric design. In the robotics and electronics sector, participants can build and program Otto robots, assemble combat robots, learn the fundamentals of soldering, experiment with STM32 microcontrollers, or construct working digital clocks using NXP development boards.
Space exploration forms a major pillar of the educational programming, with student space team YSpace guiding participants through building working CubeSat models, and rocket team SoRC helping visitors design and print space-inspired objects. Younger makers can construct water rockets powered by compressed air and water for an immediate lesson in propulsion and aerospace principles.
Smart device development is also featured prominently, with LaskaKit hosting workshops on building Wi-Fi-connected e-paper information displays that blend electronics and practical utility. Meanwhile, the Nitlab workshop bridges textiles and technology, allowing participants to punch cards to control a knitting machine and craft custom-patterned scarves, proving that modern making extends far beyond traditional circuit boards and hardware.
Complementing the workshop schedule, the festival’s Repair Zone demonstrates the principles of the circular economy by showing how broken household objects can be restored to working order. The main stage serves as a central hub for discourse, hosting a 24-hour Student Hardware Hackathon, space exploration presentations with ESERO Czech Republic, spectacular science demonstrations, and discussions on the global right-to-repair movement.
As the weekend progresses, the stage transitions to showcase hackathon winners, DIY digital footwear, student-built artificial intelligence projects, and an open-mic session for independent makers. Through two packed days of collaboration, experimentation, and shared knowledge, Maker Faire Brno reinforces its status as a vital anchor for Central Europe’s maker community.
