Police, a police helicopter, the army, firefighters, knights, soccer, music, good food, contests for kids, free admission to the Museum of Knife-Making Traditions—these were the highlights of Saturday, August 5, in Mikulášovice, where the 8th annual Knife-Making Festival took place—an event organized by Mikov with the support of the town of Mikulášovice.
This traditional event, which began in 2012, returned after a year to the town’s sports complex, which has proven to be an ideal venue. There is plenty of space here for both large-scale events, such as the arrival of a police helicopter, and more intimate presentations, such as Major Roman Hippík’s expert lecture on the history of knives or a crash course in self-defense.
Although heavy rains hit virtually the entire Czech Republic on Saturday, the Mikulášovice Festival weathered the inclement conditions until the afternoon. But even the overcast sky did not deter hundreds of guests from across the country and abroad from attending.
The Knife Festival is a grand celebration of the fact that high-quality knife craftsmanship still thrives in Mikulášovice and that Mikulášovice can proudly count itself among the towns that have made history through knife production. This is no small feat, as this industry has already disappeared in many European cities under the pressure of globalization. And so, not only do the Predator, UTON, Pocket, and, of course, Rybička knives remain established names in the cutlery market, but Mikov is also a key partner to the armed forces—whether through the production of bayonets for the BREN2 assault rifle under license from the ColtCZ Group, the newly developed Rescue 2 knife, or the “War Veteran” project supporting the Military Solidarity Fund.
This is one of the reasons why the organizing team, led by Mikov employees Petr Procházka and Miluše Trojanová, was able to arrange an exciting display of police, military, and firefighting equipment for the festivities. This year, the traditional demonstration of combat equipment by military chemical troops from Liberec and the army recruitment booth were joined by police fingerprint experts, motorcycle officers, traffic officers, and, above all, a SWAT team, whose helicopter deployment became one of the highlights of the program.
The Knife Festival also marked the launch of the new “Soccer Legends” edition knife featuring Vladimír Šmicer, so a match featuring a team of stars led by Jan Berger was a must—in which soccer greats such as Petr Rada, Lukáš Zelenka, Radek Šírl, Tomáš Řepka, and others. Following the knives featuring Lubomír Mistr (which is already sold out), Jan Berger, and Jan Koller, the collector’s edition has expanded to include another great soccer player. The new knife was available for purchase at the Mikov sales booth, which, of course, also offered festival attendees a complete assortment of knives.
The Knife Festival continued into the evening with a rich cultural program featuring rock bands. And even as the event was underway, the organizers were already coming up with new ideas for next year. So, see you in 2024.