Designblok 2026 in Prague: dates, venues and the reopened Industrial Palace

Designblok, Central Europe's largest design and fashion festival, was open to the public in Prague from 7 to 11 October 2026. A professionals' day came first on 6 October, and the Designblok Talks conference ran on 6 and 7 October at the Industrial Palace. The 28th edition was built around the theme “Light” and took over the Trade Fair Palace (Veletržní palác) of the National Gallery Prague, the Riding School at Prague Castle, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Industrial Palace at Výstaviště, which reopened this autumn, 18 years after a fire in 2008 and after four and a half years of reconstruction. At the Riding School, the exhibition “Design for Václav Havel”, marking the 90th anniversary of the former president's birth, is now open to the public free of charge, from 21 October 2026 to 17 January 2027.

What it means for your trip

• Designblok itself has ended for this year; its paid exhibitions needed a festival ticket from designblok.cz.
• At the Riding School, “Design for Václav Havel” is free to visit from 21 October 2026 to 17 January 2027.
• Its centrepiece is Václav Havel's presidential study, designed by Bořek Šípek, back at the Castle for the first time in more than twenty years, shown alongside his Olga chair and the Prague Castle Guard uniforms designed by Theodor Pištěk.
• The Museum of Decorative Arts is in the centre, at 17. listopadu 2 in Prague 1. The Trade Fair Palace, at Dukelských hrdinů 47, and the Industrial Palace at Výstaviště are in Prague 7.
• If Prague's design and architecture interest you beyond the festival, the licensed guides we work with can lead a private walking tour of the city's Art Nouveau and Cubist buildings, or a full visit to Prague Castle with its interiors.