Giostra Poreč 2026: 11 to 13 September, a tournament from 1745

Most historical festivals in Croatia reach for the middle ages. Giostra does not: it reconstructs the eighteenth century, when Poreč belonged to Venice, and it takes its name and its rules from a real tournament held here in 1745. For three days in September the streets inside the old walls fill with over 250 people in period costume, and the town stops pretending it is 2026.

What actually happens

• The tournament itself: riders at speed, aiming at a target, judged by rules written down in the eighteenth century. It is the centrepiece and the reason for the name.
• Flag-wavers and drummers through the streets, and baroque equestrian displays outside the walls.
• Dance and theatre on open stages, and a market where the stalls sell what the eighteenth century would have sold.

Going, in practice

Everything happens inside the old town, which sits on a narrow peninsula and has no room for cars. Park outside and walk in, that is the only way anyway. September in Istria still swims: the sea holds its summer temperature into October, so a festival day pairs well with a morning at the water. And the town has something the festival cannot match for age, five minutes from the tournament.

Where next

1. 5 minThe basilica with the gold ceiling

   Mosaics from the sixth century, in the same place since. Fourteen hundred years older than the tournament outside.

2. 3 WochenTruffle season, half an hour inland

   From 3 October the white truffle fair runs every weekend in Livade, with a train into the forest and a real hunt at the end of it.