The car tuning meet in Čakovice was an unauthorised gathering of enthusiasts of modified cars, held on 2 October 2026 in the car park by the Globus hypermarket in the Prague district of Čakovice. According to a rough police estimate, up to a thousand cars arrived at the site and roughly 2,500 people attended, mostly young people [1][2]. The event was part of a cross-border activity referred to on social media as "Europe illegal season end 2026", under which a similar gathering of tuned vehicles was planned in Prague on the same day and subsequently in Brno on Saturday [1][2].*

Course of events in Čakovice

The hypermarket car park was completely filled with people, cars and motorcycles, and some motorcyclists revved their engines. Participants, who often arrived at the site on foot, looked at the vehicles, photographed them and filmed them on mobile phones [1][2]. Traffic was blocked from the Letňany ice hockey stadium, and the passage of public transport buses was also complicated; customers of the hypermarket complained about the event, as it made their departure difficult [1][3]. According to Seznam Zprávy, all routes to the car park were blocked except for one entrance and exit, and dispatchers of the Prague transit company also arrived in Čakovice and coordinated public transport together with the police [2].

Police intervention

The police knew about the planned meet in advance, having obtained information mainly from social media, and already on the Tuesday before the event announced extensive security measures [1][2]. At the site, police officers checked drivers leaving the car park and their documents, and a police helicopter patrolled above the area [1][3]. Prague police spokesman Jan Daněk stated that no major problems occurred and that the police presence apparently deterred participants from unlawful behaviour [1][3]. Police Presidium spokesman Jozef Bocán pointed out that similar meets in previous years in other European countries were accompanied by extensive endangerment of road safety and public order, including illegal races, blocking of motorways, attempts to block police vehicles, theft of traffic signs and the use of pyrotechnics [1][2]. The police therefore deployed officers from all motorway units, regional road supervision units and traffic inspectorates, as well as the nationwide Speciální oddělení dohledu Čechy a Morava, involved mobile patrols of the foreign police, and planned to deploy drones and a helicopter with thermal imaging [1][2].

Border checks and the planned move to Brno

The police also reinforced patrols at border crossings and major access roads. On the day of the meet, South Moravian police announced that, not far from the border, they had ended the journey of two foreigners heading to the meet: one had his vehicle registration certificate taken away because of unapproved modifications, and the other, a seventeen-year-old, was driving without a driving licence [1][2][3]. According to the information available so far, participants of the event were to move to Brno on Saturday. South Moravian police spokesman David Chaloupka stated that, in addition to the main roads, rest areas, petrol stations and other places where short-term gatherings of participants can be expected would be under surveillance. Increased police supervision in South Moravia applied from Thursday, especially on the D1 and D2 motorways and other major roads [1][2][3].

Chronology

  • — Hundreds of cars gathered in the car park of a hypermarket in Prague's Čakovice for an unauthorised tuning meet; according to a police estimate up to a thousand cars and 2,500 people came, the police monitored the event, which was due to move to Brno on Saturday. ČTK / České noviny Seznam Zprávy

Sources

  1. ČTK / České noviny — 2 October 2026
  2. Seznam Zprávy — 2 October 2026
  3. iDNES.cz — 2 October 2026