Looking Back at the Pop-up Festival Boskovice 2026

During Saturday, the open buildings of the first festival Open House in Boskovice welcomed 2,258 visitors, which corresponds to more than 500 people. The organizers opened a total of 22 locations to the public. The greatest interest was in the Town Hall Tower, which was visited by over 430 people. A mere 109 people arrived at the anti-atomic shelter in just one hour, and the Panský dvůr and the museum of agricultural machinery also enjoyed great success. In collaboration with the City of Boskovice and the South Moravian Region, Open House Brno launched a series of pop-up festivals aimed at introducing architecture enthusiasts and tourists to tens of thousands of properties in southern Moravia. Besides locals, interested parties also came from Brno, Prague, Slovakia, and the most distant participants arrived from Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, or Germany.

“In southern Moravia, we have architectural gems hidden in many places, and we are convinced that it is immensely important to seek, discover, and show them to the public. The pop-up festival Open House Brno discovers..., this time Boskovice, is not only a bridge between architectural heritage and the public but also a way for people to explore and read their or visited city differently. In a new context, visitors can find out what production looks like at a significant local employer, how the background of spas, hospitals, or offices works, or what plans the owners of historical sites have. Our architecture festival also aims to facilitate discussions among the public, property owners, and authorities, and to find ways to further develop local heritage. I thank everyone who was there and helped with the organization in any way, and some helped a lot; it is amazing what has gradually been built,” describes her impressions of the Boskovice festival Lucie Pešl Šilerová, the creative director of Open House Brno.

Among the highlights of the festival were:
● visits to LD seating, where many family members of local employees came to see what the operations of a furniture company look like,
● a presentation of an older plan by architect Soukup for the use of Panský dvůr, whose owner would like to reopen discussions about the use of this historical site,
● at the Sokolovna, the residents of Boskovice learned interesting facts about the local Sokol district, as well as information about the city itself that even long-time residents of Boskovice were unaware of,
● a tour of the Basic Art School served as a reunion for former students to see how the school has developed, as well as inspiration and motivation for current children and their parents on whether and why to start attending the so-called 'liduska',
● a guided walk with the author of the Boskovice ArchiMap, architect Petr Ondráček, extended from two hours to four. Not only did all participants manage to complete the entire walk, but the audience gradually expanded over time.

“The tours of the town hall that I guided offered people the chance to look at the town hall not just through the lens of someone who is there to handle administrative matters but to see it from a new perspective, with an interest in its interiors and architecture. I appreciate the overall well-managed organization of the Open House Brno team for Boskovice and believe that the successfully initiated collaboration will continue,” comments the press spokesperson of the City of Boskovice, Martina Žižková.

All tours of the pop-up festival Open House Brno discovers... this time Boskovice, were free for the public. The organizers would like to express their gratitude to all volunteers without whom the festival could not have taken place. “Thanks also go to one of the spiritual fathers of Open House Brno discovers..., Boskovice architect Petr Ondráček, our partners, especially the City of Boskovice, the South Moravian Region, the Cultural Facilities of the City of Boskovice, and the Museum of the Region of Boskovice, as well as the companies LD seating and Laník, which allowed visits to their operations,” concludes the spokesperson of the Open House Brno festival, Vratislav Vozník.