Weekend in Brno: Transport nostalgia and Police days

The city center of Brno will be bustling this weekend. From Friday, June 12, through Sunday, June 14, the city center will feature demonstrations of modern and historic police equipment, the opening of the International Police Horsemanship Championship with riders from eight countries, a fleet of historic trolleybuses, buses, and trams, the 1000 Czechoslovak miles historic car race, and barrel organ players. All this under the banner of the 29th annual REGIOJET IGNIS BRUNENSIS festival.

Police: Friday’s program and the international championship

The weekend program kicks off on Friday with Police Day celebrations, with which the Police celebrates its 35th anniversary. Freedom Square will be filled with modern and historic police equipment, along with demonstrations by police bomb squads, divers, and traffic and riot police.

The afternoon will take on a more ceremonial tone: at 2:00 PM, new police recruits will take their oath of office, followed at 2:45 PM by a concert by the Band of the Castle Guard and the Czech Republic Police Band. At 4:00 p.m., a ceremonial parade of mounted units will march through the square, marking the start of the International Police Horsemanship Championship. Police officers from Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Romania, and the United Kingdom will compete against the home team.

The equestrian competitions will then move to Panská Lícha on Saturday at 9:00 a.m., where police officers will compete in disciplines such as the show jumping derby and police show jumping. Between competitions, visitors can once again view modern and historical police equipment or demonstrations of the work of K-9 handlers and special units.

Transport Nostalgia: Historic Public Transportation and Steam Trains

For fans of railways, trolley lines, and the smell of gasoline (or steam), the traditional Transport Nostalgia event is here. On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., the Brno Public Transport Company will display historic buses and trams on Masarykova Street and Freedom Square, with trolleybuses on Brandlova Street. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the vehicles will carry passengers on special routes – trams and buses from Freedom Square, and trolleybuses from the Česká stop – to the Brno Exhibition Centre, where the Transport Show Truck & Bus 2026 is taking place. A packed program awaits professional drivers and all truck and bus enthusiasts there. On Friday and Saturday, there will also be parades featuring dozens of tractor-trailers traveling from the Exhibition Centre to downtown (via Freedom Square) and back.

The star of this year’s event will be the newly renovated 1980 Škoda 9Tr trolleybus, which operated in Brno in the 1980s and 1990s. After being taken out of service, it ended up in Rivne, Ukraine, from where the transit company managed to save it from being scrapped in 2019. “This restoration was definitely one of the most challenging we’ve experienced while expanding our collection of retro vehicles. Given the vehicle’s age, it wasn’t possible to order parts; instead, we had to go to great lengths to source them or custom-manufacture them ourselves,” comments Miloš Havránek, CEO of the Brno Public Transport Company (DPMB), on the trolleybus restoration.

A horse-drawn tram will run through the city center from Freedom Square to the train station and then along Rooseveltova and Česká Streets. Other highlights include a six-meter-long model of the Prýgl 80 boat on a tram chassis, built to mark the 80th anniversary of water transport in Brno. The Technical Museum in Brno will also be showcasing the very popular Caroline steam locomotive, among other exhibits. “Caroline was built in 1889 and was primarily used to transport freight cars from the station to the sidings of factories connected to tram lines, such as the Starobrno Brewery,” adds Tomáš Kocman, curator of the Public Transportation department at the Technical Museum.

This year, Kordis JMK is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the integration of Zastávka, Ivančice, and Rosice into the IDS JMK. As part of the celebrations, steam trains and the historic Krokodýl motor train will run on several circular routes between Brno, Zastávka, and Ivančice on Saturday. A ride on a narrow-gauge steam train to the Museum of Industrial Railways in Zbýšov is also planned, as well as a “Three Generations” bus parade along the route of line 405 (buses representing the 1960s–1980s, the 1980s to the turn of the millennium, and the present).

1000 Czechoslovak miles historic car race and the Traditional Barrel Organ Players’ Gathering

On Saturday, participants in the legendary 1,000 Czechoslovak miles race will drive through the center of Brno: 130 pre-war cars manufactured before 1939, which will stop in Brno on their route from Bratislava to Prague. A time check with expert commentary will take place on Dominikánské Square between 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., and other historic vehicles will also be on display (e.g., “Z” brand cars from Brno’s Zbrojovka).

The atmosphere of the weekend will be rounded out by the 17th International Barrel Organists’ Gathering. It begins on Saturday at 2:00 PM in the courtyard of the Palace of Noble Ladies. Afterwards, participants from various countries with their historic barrel organs will take to the streets around the center of Brno as well as to the historic vehicles. The program will conclude with a joint concert on Sunday at 6:00 PM at the Red Church.

The Brno Brass Fest is taking place in Brno through Monday. On Saturday, the festival will feature a “Moravian feast” event on Moravské náměstí (free admission), and on Sunday, a concert of the Austrian ensemble Vienna Brass Connection at Špilberk Castle.

Dominika Pivodová Lišková