Rabska Fjera (Rab Festival)

Rabska fjera is the first and the biggest medieval festival in Croatia with over 700 costumed participants taking part in a hundred of workshops. The old Rab town centre is turned into an international medieval stage at that time.

RETURN TO THE MIDDLE AGES

Rabska fjera is the first and the biggest medieval festival in Croatia originating in 1364. Over 700 costumed participants running one hundred workshops across the town take part in this medieval event. The old Rab town centre is turned into an international medieval stage at that time, the medieval stage where the locals bring the medieval lifestyle back to life, re-enacting the numerous traditional activities and crafts.

THE THREE-DAY RAPSKA FJERA FESTIVAL BRINGS THE MEDIEVAL RAB BACK TO LIFE

The renewed festivity is celebrated for three days, beginning with its opening on July 25th, on the Feast Day of St. Jacob (Sv. Jakov), continuing on July 26th, which is the Feast Day of St. Anne (Sv. Ana) and ending on July 27th at midnight on the Feast Day of St. Christopher (Sv. Kristofor). The opening ceremony of Rabska fjera is a true spectacle. It starts with the gathering of all the costumed participants in Gornja ulica in Rab. Then they parade down the town's stairs Borbotine to the Square of St. Christopher (Sv. Kristofor), that is, the medieval Varoš square. With the medieval decree, the Duke of Rab then proclaims Rabska fjera to be open, thus opening the gate of the town to all the visitors and the general celebration can initiate. It is followed by a solemn procession led by the Herald and Rab knights with crossbows, the Duke accompanied by the noblemen and gentry. They are joined by the guests of honour and the guests from twin cities, craftsmen and artisans, merchants, artists, entertainers and jugglers of Rab. They proceed along Srednja ulica towards the Municipal Lodge where all of them sign in their names in the Rapska fjera registry. The noblemen proceed with the tour of the medieval town and the other participants get off to work at their workshops located in various squares, streets and courtyards of Kaldanac, the oldest part of the town, by torchlight.

RAB KNIGHT TOURNAMENTS

The central and the final event of the festival is the knight tournament. On July 27th, the Feast Day of St. Christopher (Sv. Kristofor), the knights of Rab parade through the town accompanied by the sounds of drums and fanfares, competing at the end in crossbow using the original siege crossbow. The winner of the knight tournament receives an award. By the lowering of the festival flag and firing from the cannon, the knight tournament has officially ended with fireworks at midnight, symbolically marking the return to the present.

WE THANK ALL THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SPECTACLE

On the said days, the town centre travels back to the Middle Ages, owing to the commitment of and hard work of the associations of Rab and all the citizens, as well as friends from the Republic of San Marino and other twin cities. Rapska fjera, as the first and the biggest medieval event in Croatia has been recognised worldwide and has become the main reason for the tourist to visit the island. It is classified as the Tourist Event of the Year and is conducted under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Croatia.

THE HISTORICAL RECORDS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF RABSKA FJERA

In 1358, following the two-year war and the defeat, Venice yielded up Dalmatia to Ljudevit I of Hungary, the King of the Hungarian and Croatian Kingdom. Following this event, the inhabitants of Rab bowed down to the new kings in Zadar, vowing allegiance to him and he promised to recognise the privileges greater than the ones they had under the Venetian rule, so they celebrated him as their liberator. They introduced seven-day long municipal celebrations in his honour. In the honour of Ljudevit I of Hungary (Anžuvinac), as well as the sacred remembrance and honour of St. Christopher, the Grand Chamber of the Town of Rab on July 21st, 1364, adopted a special decree regulating the most solemn celebration of May 9th (Dies Victoraie, Cro. Dan pobjede), when the Town of Rab was liberated from the Normans through a divine intercession of St. Christopher (Sv. Kristofor) in 1075, and July 27th, (Dies Natalis, Cro. Dan mučeničke smrti sv. Kristofora), the day of the martyrdom of St. Kristofor, patron saint of Rab, the day the Church celebrates as his birthday, the day he was born unto Heaven.

SPECIAL RULES TO BE FOLLOWED DURING THE FESTIVAL

During public celebrations (tempus feriarum), the court in the town was closed, so the debtors from the surrounding villages were allowed to enter and exit Rab during those 15 days, because legal proceedings and actions against debtors were not allowed. Therefore, the city gate was open to everyone. Such feast days took place between 1364 and 1852 with minor disruptions. In 1852, the Bishop of Krk abolished them because the behaviour of the people at the fair got out of control. However, the inhabitants were still arriving to the town on the feast days of St. Jacob (Sv. Jakov) on July 25th, on the Day of St. Anne (Sv. Ana) on July 26th and on the feast day of St. Christopher (Sv. Kristofor) on July 27th. The said feast days resembled a lot more the fair the locals called fjera, derived from the Italian word fiera. Such a tradition continued to the 1950s and then it disappeared. The celebrations were introduced again in 2002, as a folklore event which obtained the official name of Rabska fjera in 2003.