Between 5 and 6 September, the ÚĽUV Master Craftsmen Days will transform Bratislava’s Old Town into a living workshop. Now in its 36th year, the festival, organised by the ECA member ÚĽUV, shifts the focus away from the finished object and highlights the process of making. Visitors can directly experience, how raw clay, wood, textiles, and metal are shaped into finished objects.
The 2026 Theme: Wirecraft
This year’s central theme is Drotárstvo, the traditional Slovak art of wirecraft, which earned UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage recognition in 2019. On Franciscan Square, the programming will focus on historic tinker’s trade. Alongside the music, visitors will hear the traditional calls of makers offering to patch, bind, and repair ceramic pots with wire. Craftspeople will thus bring a highly specific, practical repair craft directly back to the streets.
The ÚĽUV School of Crafts
Inside St George’s Courtyard, the focus turns to hands-on learning. The ÚĽUV School of Crafts, added to the UNESCO Register of Good Safeguarding Practices in 2024, is hosting a dedicated creative space. Visitors and especially children can sit down with experienced instructors to learn the mechanics of specific crafts. The workstations will be equipped for wire-working, woodcarving, glass painting, textile weaving, and ceramics, giving everyone a chance to experience the tools and materials in their own hands.
The event is held under the auspices of the Slovak National Commission for UNESCO.
photo: ÚĽUV