Brno is hitting its stride, and the maker community is leading the charge. Often playfully overshadowed by its larger neighbor, Prague, the city likes to joke that it is merely a village. Yet, with a substantial population anchored by roughly 80,000 university students, there is nothing small about its creative output. A potent mix of young minds, ambitious concepts, and a robust appetite for technology, traditional craft, and hands-on experimentation has turned Brno into fiercely fertile ground for innovation.
Since its launch in 2019, Maker Faire Brno has steadily expanded its footprint. Today, the event regularly welcomes approximately 7,500 visitors and hundreds of makers hailing from across Czechia and beyond. Fab Lab Brno has served as an essential partner to the Make More team—the driving organizational force behind Maker Faires throughout the Czech Republic—helping to cultivate the community one maker at a time. This weekend, from October 17 to 18, Maker Faire Brno returns for its eighth consecutive edition, proving that the local momentum shows no signs of slowing down.
The venue itself forms a crucial part of the event’s distinct charm. Brno’s sprawling Exhibition Halls are tailor-made for a gathering of this scale, offering striking architecture, soaring ceilings, floods of natural light, an integrated planetarium, a massive main hall, and countless architectural nooks and crannies to explore. Around every corner, attendees encounter curiosity in action, clever engineering feats, creative experiments, and exceptional local talent.
Prusa Leads the Local Charge
Prusa Research, a cornerstone of the global maker movement and a driving force behind the explosion of Maker Faires across the Czech Republic, is bringing its signature energy straight to Brno. Known worldwide for its integrated, in-house manufacturing approach, Prusa serves as a shining example of Czech ingenuity and demonstrates what happens when hands-on creation is placed at the very core of an enterprise.
This year, the stakes are elevated with a compelling incentive: a brand-new Prusa 3D printer is up for grabs. Visitors can participate in the ongoing Maker Challenge by demonstrating how a clever concept and 3D printing technology can successfully rescue discarded items from the waste stream, transforming them into useful, functional tools. Successful participants just might head home with the hardware needed to fuel their next major project. For those unable to make the trip to Brno, Prusa will showcase its hardware and community spirit at Maker Faire Rome the following week.
Ten Projects Highlighting the 2026 Lineup
Maker Faire is where the traditional boundaries between engineering, art, science, and everyday problem-solving dissolve into creative exploration. The 2026 lineup in Brno captures this philosophy across a wide spectrum, ranging from bespoke 3D-printed audio equipment and DIY electronics to innovative methods for repurposing garden waste, accessible technology, and hands-on mechanical tinkering.
Among the standout projects featured in the official maker directory is Acoustika 3D: SIMPLIXITY, a custom-designed, 3D-printed loudspeaker born from a fusion of engineering and a deep appreciation for Drum & Bass music. Visitors can examine the internal components to understand firsthand how specialized enclosure design directly shapes acoustic performance.
In the realm of physical chemistry and fine arts, maker Jan Grygerek presents Sublisica: From bubble to glass. Utilizing tiny frozen soap-bubble crystals as a starting point, Grygerek designed a custom engraving machine to preserve these fleeting, delicate patterns permanently on glass when off-the-shelf equipment proved inadequate.
Environmental sustainability also takes center stage through projects like Biouhel, which demonstrates how ordinary piles of pruned garden branches can be converted into biochar. This porous, carbon-rich material improves soil water retention and nutrient distribution, turning standard yard waste into valuable agricultural resources while offering long-term carbon-storage benefits.
Academic institutions are well-represented, notably through Masaryk University’s computer science laboratories. Research projects on display translate abstract algorithms and robotics into physical reality, featuring interactive demonstrations such as a robot capable of drawing with a pen and a marionette controlled entirely by human body movements.
On the commercial and educational front, displays from 3Dfil.cz offer a playground for additive manufacturing enthusiasts, showcasing materials, equipment, and practical applications spanning FDM, resin printing, and high-strength industrial uses. Nearby, an interactive mechanical workshop invites visitors of all ages to handle skateboards, bikes, and roller skate assemblies to practice removing and reinstalling bearings, mastering the essential tools that keep everyday machinery operational.
Safety and infrastructure innovation appear in the form of KAMaRAD, a prototype developed by Brno University of Technology. Combining conventional sensors with millimeter-wave radar, the device is engineered to detect road hazards and protect vulnerable road users like cyclists in conditions where standard optical cameras struggle.
Traditional craftsmanship meets mechanical play in Baťa Customs, a mobile workshop where participants can sand, paint, and assemble wooden gravity racers without batteries or motors. Meanwhile, the RaveBOX project provides a sonic outlet, evolving from a simple electronics experiment into an interactive synthesizer and sequencer designed to encourage musical exploration.
Adding to the high-performance engineering displays, a student project from Brno features a high-performance 3D-printed RC jet boat powered by an integrated water pump and jet propulsion system. Built using durable engineering polymers and controlled by an ESP32 chip, the watercraft features custom onboard telemetry that wirelessly transmits real-time GPS speed, battery voltage, and component temperatures back to the shore.
Workshops and Live Programming
Maker Faire Brno emphasizes experiential learning through an extensive workshop schedule covering 3D printing, robotics, space technology, textiles, and traditional crafts. Sessions range from quick 30-minute introductions to deep dives lasting 90 minutes or more, accommodating children, teens, and families.
Activities include designing space-themed objects for 3D printing, exploring ceramic additive manufacturing, assembling Otto robots and combat bots, and mastering soldering techniques. More advanced tinkerers can tackle STM32 microcontrollers or build digital clocks using NXP development boards. Space enthusiasts can construct CubeSat models with student team YSpace, design space hardware with rocket team SoRC, or build water-powered rockets.
Additional workshops explore smart device fabrication through Wi-Fi-connected e-paper displays created with LaskaKit, and textile engineering through punch-card-controlled knitting machines at the Nitlab workshop.
Beyond the workshop tables, the festival features a dedicated Repair Zone highlighting the right-to-repair movement by demonstrating how broken household items can be restored. The main stage hosts a diverse program, including a 24-hour Student Hardware Hackathon, space exploration presentations by ESERO Czech Republic, live science experiments, and talks on 3D printing optimization and Arduino programming. The weekend concludes with hackathon winner announcements, student-built artificial intelligence projects, and open-mic sessions for makers eager to share their ongoing creations with the community.
