Prague Shibari Festival
Three-day rope festival held every spring and autumn since 2016, organised by Petr Soptík, with parallel English-language workshops from beginner to advanced levels by day and performances plus rope jams in the evenings.
The Prague Shibari Festival has been held twice a year since 2016, three days each time. Its organizer is Petr Soptík (spelled Peter Soptik on the festival site), co-founder of the Subspace studio, who has also brought teachers such as Kasumi Hourai, Riccardo Wildties, Yoroi Nicolas and WykD Dave to the Czech Republic. The festival centers on Japanese bondage but also welcomes less traditional rope; it addresses people who come for art, communication, relaxation, power exchange or fun, and says presenters and topics are chosen with diversity in mind.
Since 2025 the festival has used a venue with three large workshop rooms, which attendees reach from the tram stops Nádraží Podbaba or Zelená; the exact address goes only to registered attendees. Each day has three daytime slots with up to three parallel workshops taught in English and labeled by level from L1 to L3, and bamboo suspension points are available for advanced classes. Friday and Saturday evenings bring a performance followed by a rope jam, and Sunday ends with a jam. A pre-party the evening before was held at Subspace in autumn 2026; spring 2027 plans a smaller Thursday pre-party.
Presenters come from across Europe and beyond. The autumn 2026 edition (11–13 September) listed pairs from the Netherlands, Canada, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Germany, including Asiana & Door and the Prague teachers Soptík and Sansei. Topics ranged from sculpting chest harnesses and scarf bondage to arm binders and strappado for less flexible arms.
For 2027 the organizers replaced first-come ticket sales with a registration period and one lottery covering both editions, 28–30 May and 10–12 September 2027. A small number of places go directly to active Subspace members and former presenters; the rest are split evenly between a pool for returning attendees and an open pool, and everyone gets one festival before anyone is drawn for a second. Groups can register together and are drawn as a whole. The house rules ask attendees not to photograph or film others without consent, ban open flames and smoking, and ask people to tell staff at once if something inappropriate happens.