Advent in Samobor 2026: 27 November to 1 January

Samobor, a small town about 25 kilometres by road west of Zagreb, opens its Advent on Friday 27 November 2026, two days before the first Sunday of Advent and a day before Advent in Zagreb. The town's tourist board set the dates in two calls for tenders in early November, which award the food and drink huts on the main square and at the ice rink (TZ Samobor). The same documents give the opening hours and the list of local specialities the board wants to see at the huts. The day-by-day programme with concerts comes shortly before the start.

Samobor Advent 2026 at a glance

The call for the main square sets the frame: on weekdays the tenants only have to open in the afternoon, on Saturdays and Sundays for the full opening hours (call for Trg kralja Tomislava). On a weekday visit, plan for late afternoon and evening. On Fridays and Saturdays the huts may serve until 02:00, so the opening night itself, a Friday, runs late. The four huts on the square go to a single tenant, with offers due by 13 November.

The ice rink behind Kino Samobor

The ice rink sits behind Kino Samobor, the town cinema, and stays five days longer than the huts on the square, until Wednesday 6 January 2027 (ice rink call). A tenant runs a food and drink hut beside it, which has to open at least from 16:00 to 22:00 on weekdays and from 10:00 to 23:00 at weekends. The tourist board has not yet published 2026 admission prices. Last season the rink opened daily from 10:00 to 22:00 and was free on opening day; its trademark is a starry sky of lights above the ice (TZ Samobor 2025).

Food and drink: češnofka, bermet and kremšnita

Price is not the only thing that counts when the four huts on Trg kralja Tomislava are awarded. Bidders score a point for each Samobor speciality on their menu: Samoborska češnofka, a garlic sausage, rudarska greblica, a savoury cheese and walnut pie from the village of Rude, bermet, a spiced aperitif wine, muštarda, a mustard made with grape must, and corn bread. More points go to bidders who work with winemakers from Samobor and Plešivica (call for tenders). Kremšnita, the custard slice Samobor is known for across Croatia, is sold in the town's cafés and pastry shops (TZ Samobor).

Last season Stražnička ulica, known locally as Klanjec, became Minglanje V Klanjcu, a lane for food and wine with štrukli, strudel, fritule, cheese, sausages and hot chocolate, plus concerts through December by acts such as Alen Đuras and Martin Kosovec (TZ Samobor 2025). Whether the lane returns in 2026 will show in the programme.

Programme: what last season offered

The 2026 programme has not been published yet; last year it came out on 24 November, four days before the start. In 2025 Advent opened on a Friday at 19:30 with the lights switched on and the ice rink opened, followed by Vesna Pisarović on Trg kralja Tomislava from 21:00. The main stage later hosted Crvena Jabuka, Magazin, Marko Kutlić, Jure Brkljača and Jakov Jozinović, among others. Children had an all-day Advent under a dome in the Atrium, with shows and workshops. On New Year's Eve Samobor celebrated twice: at noon with Ivana Marić and from 22:00 with Grupa Locco (TZ Samobor 2025). Other towns' plans for the night are collected in New Year's Eve in Croatia.

Getting there: bus 153 from Zagreb, car and parking

By car it is 25.5 kilometres and 34 minutes without traffic from central Zagreb to Trg kralja Tomislava, and 119.5 kilometres and 83 minutes from Ljubljana (OSRM, OpenStreetMap data, calculated on 8 November 2026). Drivers coming from Slovenia reach Samobor before Zagreb; Slovenia requires a vignette, with details in our guide Driving to Croatia. From 15 November Croatia's winter tyre rules apply.

Without a car, Samoborček's line 153 runs from Zagreb's main bus station (AK Zagreb) via the Ljubljanica stop to Samobor, two to three times an hour on weekdays and less often at weekends (line 153 timetable). For an evening at the market, the return is what matters:

For parking, last season the town's car parks were free during Advent from 18:00 on Fridays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays, except the car parks at the Samobor fairground (Sajmište) (Komunalac Samobor). The operator Komunalac has not yet said whether the same rule applies in 2026.

Samobor and Advent in Zagreb in one weekend

Samobor opens on Friday 27 November, Zagreb on Saturday 28 November. On the first Advent weekend you can spend Friday evening in Samobor, catch the 23:00 bus back and see Zagreb's opening on Saturday. Hotels, trains and flights for an Advent weekend in the capital are covered in Zagreb Advent weekend: getting there and where to stay. Every other town with dates, from Zadar to Osijek, is listed in Advent in Croatia 2026.