Zigante Truffle Days run every Saturday and Sunday from 3 October to 1 November in Livade, 10:00 to 19:00, with more than fifty exhibitors. Here is how the season works, what a hunt costs and how to tell a real Istrian truffle from an oiled impostor.
Checked: 18 August 2026
The white truffle is the one that makes Istria expensive in autumn. It grows wild in the damp oak soil of the Motovun forest along the Mirna river, it cannot be farmed, and its season is short: roughly September to January, with October and November the weeks everyone plans around. Livade, a village of a few hundred people at the edge of that forest, is where the season becomes a public event.
The dates that matter
Zigante Truffle Days take place in Livade every Saturday and Sunday from 3 October to 1 November 2026, from 10:00 to 19:00. More than fifty exhibitors bring not only truffles but the rest of the Istrian larder: prosciutto, cheese, honey, olive oil and wine. The programme includes truffle hunting demonstrations with dogs, cooking workshops and tastings led by chefs. The fair draws around fifty thousand visitors across the season, which is worth knowing before choosing a Saturday at noon.
How to spend the day
Livade is small and the fair fills it, so arrive at opening or in the last two hours. The hill towns above it, Motovun, Oprtalj and Grožnjan, are the reason to stay past lunch, and each has konobas serving fuži with truffle at a fraction of what the same plate costs on the coast. If you want the forest itself, book a truffle hunt with a local family in advance rather than on the day, since the good dogs work early and are spoken for.
Buying without being fooled
- Fresh white truffle is sold by weight and priced per gram. A price per piece, or no scale on the table, is a warning sign.
- Most cheap truffle oil carries no truffle at all, only the synthetic aroma compound. If the label lists an aroma rather than a percentage of truffle, treat it as a seasoning, not a souvenir.
- A whole fresh truffle keeps for about a week wrapped in paper in the fridge, not in rice, which dries it out. Buy on the way home, not at the start of a trip.
- The black summer truffle is a different, far cheaper species. It is a fine ingredient, but it should never be sold at white truffle prices.
Frequently asked questions
- When is the white truffle season in Istria?
- Roughly September to January, with October and November the peak. The Zigante fair in Livade runs weekends from 3 October to 1 November 2026.
- Where exactly is Livade?
- In central Istria on the Mirna river, at the edge of the Motovun forest, below the hill town of Motovun. It is about an hour from Pula and half an hour from Poreč.
- Can you join a truffle hunt?
- Yes, several local families run hunts with trained dogs, usually early in the morning and ending with a tasting. Book ahead; in season the slots go days in advance.
Official sources
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