Slavs at the Forge 2026

Slavs at the Forge is a traditional annual gathering in the central Moravian Karst, celebrating its 25th edition in 2026. The event takes place on Saturday, May 23, 2026, from 10:00 to 17:00 in the grounds of the national cultural monument Stará huť near Adamov (Josefovské Valley, Josefovská Street 460). The event is organized by the Technical Museum in Brno together with other organizations – the František Association, the Institute of Archaeological Heritage Care Brno, the Moravian Museum, the Archaeological Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Brno, and the DAGA Friends of History Association.

The core of the programme consists of demonstration smelting of iron ore in replicas of 9th-century iron-working furnaces – smelting takes place continuously and ends around 16:00. Visitors can also watch charcoal burning in a traditional kiln, lime burning in a peasant lime kiln, blacksmith processing of smelting results, casting of non-ferrous metals using traditional clay-mould methods, tar production, bread baking in a reconstructed medieval oven, and pottery firing. The atmosphere of ancient Slavic times is enhanced by members of the DAGA association dedicated to living history – they demonstrate period activities such as tablet weaving, quill writing, fire-starting, and combat displays. Paleontologists and geologists from the Moravian Museum present rocks, industrial raw materials, and fossils from local limestone. For families with children, quizzes, puzzles, Rubik's cube solving, Leonardo's bridge, and a code-breaking game with animals are prepared. The grounds are freely accessible; parking on site is limited – during the event, parking is available on the roadside.