Industriada

Industriada (pronounced "in-doos-tree-AH-dah") is an annual industrial heritage festival in Poland's Silesian Voivodeship, the region around Katowice. Each June, dozens of historic coal and silver mines, ironworks, breweries, railway sites and museums open their doors on the same weekend, with tours, machine demonstrations, concerts and family activities. For visitors it is the easiest way to see the industrial heart of Poland from the inside in a single trip.

What is Industriada?

The festival celebrates the Industrial Monuments Route of the Silesian Voivodeship, a themed route launched in 2006 that links around forty sites connected with mining, metallurgy, energy, railways, telecommunications, textiles, waterworks and food production. Industriada itself was inspired by ExtraSchicht, the "night of industrial culture" held in Germany's Ruhr since 2001, and its first edition took place in 2010. It has won several awards, including the Polish Tourism Organization's certificate for best tourism product in 2013.

Industriada 2026

The 17th edition ran on June 13–14, 2026, under the theme "Faces of Industry," focusing on the people behind Silesia's industrial history. The program covered 48 sites in 30 towns, opening at the Old Factory in Bielsko-Biała and closing with a finale at the Zinc Rolling Mill museum in Katowice. The date of the 2027 edition had not been announced as of October 2026.

Highlights to look for

Past programs have included:

• the Historic Silver Mine and Black Trout Adit in Tarnowskie Góry, a UNESCO World Heritage Site;
• the Guido Mine and Queen Louise Adit in Zabrze;
• the Upper Silesian Narrow-Gauge Railway in Bytom;
• the Gliwice Radio Tower, a wooden transmitter tower linked to the staged incident used by Nazi Germany as a pretext for invading Poland in 1939;
• Tyskie Browarium brewery museum in Tychy and the Nikiszowiec miners' estate in Katowice.

Who is it for?

Families, engineering fans and photographers all get something out of it: kids usually love the narrow-gauge train rides and working machines, while adults can step inside places that are normally closed or shown only in small groups. There is no single festival ground; each venue runs its own program, and in the evening many host concerts and light shows.

How to plan your visit

• Pick a cluster: choose two or three venues close together (for example Zabrze and Gliwice, or Tarnowskie Góry and Bytom) rather than crisscrossing the region.
• Free transport: in 2026 festival-goers could ride regional Koleje Śląskie trains and Transport GZM public transit for free; check whether this applies to the next edition.
• Bookings: each venue sets its own entry rules, and some events need registration. The program at industriada.pl is mainly in Polish, so use a browser translator.
• Getting there: Katowice Airport (Pyrzowice) has flights from across Europe, and Katowice is roughly 1 to 1.5 hours by train from Kraków.
• Bring a warm layer for underground tours, even in June.

Is it worth visiting?

If you are interested in industrial history, absolutely. Outside the festival weekend most sites operate as regular museums with standard tickets in PLN, so you can still visit them year-round.