Rovinj Photodays 2026: the finale of the major photography festival from May 15 to 17 in Rovinj
From Friday, May 15, to Sunday, May 17, 2026, Rovinj will once again become the center of contemporary photography in this part of Europe. The city will host the finale of the Rovinj Photodays festival, an event that has established itself as one of the largest and most important gatherings of photographers, curators, artists, educators and audiences interested in visual culture in Southeast Europe. The finale program is spread across several Rovinj locations, including MMC, CVU Batana, the Italian Community of the City of Rovinj – Circolo Italiano Pino Budicin, Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, Island Hotel Istra and other city points included in the exhibition and festival rhythm. For visitors planning to arrive during the festival weekend,
accommodation offers in Rovinj may also be useful, especially because the program takes place at several locations and includes daytime and evening events.
The festival is organized by the Livingstone Association, and the official program announces the finale as a three-day meeting of exhibitions, lectures, discussions, presentations and social gatherings. At the center of this year’s edition is the International Competition of Contemporary Photography – 19th Rovinj Photodays, 2026, an international contemporary photography competition which, according to the organizers’ official data, attracted more than 3000 photographs by authors from approximately 30 countries. The competition has thereby confirmed the international character of the event, as well as the importance of Rovinj as a place where selected works are finally presented, current trends in photography are considered and festival recognitions are awarded.
A festival that lasts longer than the final weekend
Rovinj Photodays is not only a weekend program of exhibitions and awards, but a year-round project that receives its finale in May. According to the festival’s official information, the concept is based on an annual competition, traveling exhibitions, collaborations with cultural institutions and the final presentation of finalists in Rovinj. Such a format gives the event a broader cultural framework: the competition opens space for authors from different countries and photographic poetics, while the finale enables a direct encounter between the audience, experts and authors.
This year’s edition began with the opening of the competition in January 2026, and the final festival program takes place in mid-May. The original competition included several categories of contemporary photography, including architecture, documentary photography, landscape, portrait, nude or body, and fashion. According to the organizers’ announcement, authors from Croatia, France, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Mexico entered the final selection. This year the expert jury decided that no finalists would be presented in the fashion category, explaining that the submitted works in that category had not reached the level required for exhibition in the final selection. Such a decision points to the organizers’ effort to maintain the quality of the final exhibition as a key criterion, even when that means omitting one of the announced categories.
The program begins with the festival opening and a large exhibition of finalists
The official start of the festival is scheduled for Friday, May 15, at 1 p.m. in the Multimedia Center. There, the festival and the large exhibition of finalists of the international contemporary photography competition will be opened. According to the program, the exhibition presents works by nominated authors from five categories: architecture, landscape, documentary photography, portrait and body. The curator of the exhibition is Sabina Salamon, senior curator of the Photography Collection of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka, who is also the president of this year’s jury.
After the opening, the festival schedule continues at CVU Batana, where the exhibition “Black Gold” by Mitar Simikić, the Grand Prix winner of Rovinj Photodays 2025, has been announced. According to the official program description, it is an exhibition that, through photographic fragments resembling pages of a family album, speaks about the loss of home, displacement and the fragile memories of people trying to find support in unstable circumstances. Such a thematic framework places photography in the space of personal and social history, where the image functions not only as a document of a moment, but also as a means of memory, belonging and confronting the consequences of loss.
On the same day, the program continues at the Italian Community of the City of Rovinj, where Stefania Rössl and Massimo Sordi present the project “Couplegames”. According to the announcement, the project is based on the confrontation of two perspectives that explore the same places and similar themes, with a focus on India. At the Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, the exhibition by Saša Poldan “Between Heaven and Earth – Africa” is planned, whose visual approach is based on an aerial view, transforming African landscapes into compositions of lines, textures and movement. The curator of the exhibition is Nataša Ivančević.
Photography also moves into the open space of the city
One of the important elements of Rovinj Photodays 2026 is the outdoor exhibition “Friends of the Sea 2026: Istria of Our Ancestors”, which will be installed on the promenade along the waterfront in the center of Rovinj. According to the organizers’ announcement, the exhibition, presented on 30 large formats, examines life by the sea on the Istrian coast and brings a visual look at motifs that Tošo Dabac and Alojz Orel recorded in their own photographic interpretations. In this way, the festival moves part of the program from closed gallery spaces into the public space of the city, bringing photography closer to casual passers-by as well, not only to accredited participants and visitors who intentionally come to exhibitions.
Such an approach is especially important for events that rely on the relationship between the city and cultural content. When photography is exhibited outdoors, it becomes part of the everyday rhythm of a place: walks, encounters, tourist tours, the movement of the local population and the stay of visitors. In the case of Rovinj, the strong visual identity of the city and its coast further enhances the effect of such installations. For visitors who want to connect the festival weekend with touring exhibitions and staying in the city, it may be practical to check
accommodation near the festival locations in Rovinj in advance, because the program extends from the city center to the island of St. Andrew.
Lectures on trust, authenticity and the role of photography in the digital age
The Saturday part of the program, May 16, brings two announced themes that directly enter current debates about photography, the credibility of the image and the changes brought by digital tools. At the POU Rovinj House of Culture, an interactive lecture by Dubravka Lazić entitled “The (Mis)use of Photography” has been announced. According to the program description, the lecture deals with the way we “read” photography and the question of how much we trust it, following its functions and interpretations through time. The topic is particularly relevant in a period in which photographs are shared daily outside their original context, manipulated, generated or used as evidence in public debates.
This is followed by an interactive lecture by Danijel Berković, “Authenticity as the Most Valuable Currency”. The organizer announces it as a reflection on a time in which every photograph can be technically perfect, while at the same time personal approach and authenticity stand out as what remains irreplaceable. This emphasis clearly shows that the festival does not remain only at the exhibition presentation of works, but tries to open a discussion about the broader position of photography in the contemporary visual environment, from artistic expression to documentary testimony and communication on digital platforms.
An international jury and finalists from eight countries
This year’s jury consists of experts from the fields of photography, curatorial practice, visual art and festival work. The president of the jury is Sabina Salamon, senior curator of the Photography Collection of MMSU Rijeka. The jury also includes Dubravka Lazić, a doctor of filmology, artist and professor from Serbia; Dino Rekanović, founder of the ROTLICHT festival and chief curator of the Photo Cluster gallery from Austria; Stefania Rössl, photographer and director of the SIFEST festival from Italy; Hrvoje Slovenc, a visual artist working in the USA; Massimo Sordi, photographer and co-director of the SIFEST festival from Italy; and Jano Viazo, photographer, curator and head of the PARADAJS PHOTO platform.
According to the organizers’ announcement, the finalists in the documentary photography category are Matteo Trevisan from Italy, Robin Tutenges from France and Ákos Kovács from Serbia. In the nude or body category, Cinzia Canneri from Italy, Paola Sablić from Croatia and Sergey Melnitchenko from Ukraine were selected. In architecture, the finalists are Gianluca Santoni from Italy, Katerina Kouzmitchova from Poland and Fadil Šarki from Serbia. In the landscape category, Filippo Ferraro from Italy, Stefan Stefanovski from Serbia and Ema Lančaričova from Slovakia were selected, while the portrait category is represented by Monica Almereyda from Mexico, Bojan Batar from Serbia and Emanuele Artenio from Italy.
This selection shows the diversity of authorial approaches and countries from which the participants in the final exhibition come. It is particularly visible that the festival does not rely only on already established photographic environments, but gathers authors of different generations, contexts and aesthetics. In the official statement published with the competition results, it was emphasized that the international jury reviewed around 3000 photographs from approximately 30 countries and that a significant number of new applicants was also recorded. The organizer also states that this year the participation of authors from Italy stood out in particular.
The Grand Prix as the central award of the finale
The award ceremony and announcement of the winner of the Rovinj Photodays 2026 Grand Prix are scheduled for Saturday, May 16, at Island Hotel Istra on the island of St. Andrew. According to the program, the evening event begins at 9:30 p.m., followed by a festival gathering. The Grand Prix includes a cash prize of 2000 euros, a solo exhibition and catalogue at Rovinj Photodays 2027, accommodation in Rovinj in 2026 and 2027, inclusion of the work in the museum archive under curatorial care, and the official title and certificate of Grand Prix Photodays 2026.
Finalists and category winners also receive festival recognitions, and the official materials also mention the online presentation of finalists, a digital catalogue of the final exhibition, diplomas and the Kadar award for category winners. In this way, the competition also functions as a platform for the professional visibility of authors. For photographers who are still building an international presence, participation in the final exhibition and inclusion of works in the festival documentation can be just as important as the award itself, because it places the works before both professional and broader audiences.
Rovinj as a festival backdrop and cultural stage
The finale of Rovinj Photodays relies on several types of spaces: gallery and cultural institutions, hotel spaces, public promenades and the island location of the final evening. Such a distribution of the program changes the way the audience experiences the festival. Instead of one centralized hall, events spread through the city, connecting exhibitions, lectures and encounters with the urban and coastal ambience of Rovinj. This also opens space for photography to be experienced in different contexts, from a curatorially shaped exhibition to a public outdoor installation.
In the festival narrative, Rovinj is more than the location of the event. Given its recognizable architecture, coast, promenades and cultural infrastructure, the city becomes an active framework of the event. A program in which MMC, CVU Batana, the Italian Community, Grand Park Hotel Rovinj and Island Hotel Istra alternate creates a dynamic schedule in which visitors can tour several points during the day. For that reason, for those coming to several festival contents, it is practical to plan their stay in advance, including
accommodation for visitors to Rovinj Photodays.
A photography festival between art, document and public debate
Rovinj Photodays 2026 arrives at a moment when photography is simultaneously omnipresent and increasingly problematic to interpret. Digital platforms, artificial intelligence, image processing and the mass production of visual content have changed the way audiences look at photography, as well as the way authors reflect on their own work. In this context, the festival lectures on the misuse of photography and authenticity stand out in particular. They show that a photography festival deals not only with aesthetics, but also with trust, context, authorship and the responsibility of the image.
At the same time, the exhibition part of the program brings a wide range of themes: from personal and social experiences of displacement, through aerial views of African landscapes, to the visual examination of life on the Istrian coast and international authorial series by the finalists. It is precisely this diversity that makes Rovinj Photodays an important meeting place for professional and broader audiences. The festival brings together different forms of photography, but does not close them into narrow genre frameworks; documentary photography, portrait, architecture, landscape and works focused on the body are presented as parts of a broader conversation about the image in contemporary society.
Organizational information and the final weekend
According to the published information, the organizer of the festival is the Livingstone Association, and the official contact for inquiries is info@photodays-rovinj.com. The finale program runs from May 15 to 17, 2026, with Friday and Saturday being the most densely filled, with exhibition openings, lectures, presentations, the award ceremony and accompanying social gatherings. The information point for accreditations and events has been announced for Friday at the House of Culture – POU Rovinj from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Considering that part of the program takes place in public space and part at festival and hotel locations, visitors are advised to check the official schedule before arrival, especially because of possible changes to the timetable or organizational details. The final weekend of Rovinj Photodays 2026 is announced as a concentrated meeting of exhibitions, professional conversations and the festival audience, in which Rovinj will once again take on the role of a regional center of contemporary photography and a place where authorial works are presented in direct dialogue with the audience, space and current questions of visual culture.
Sources:- Rovinj Photodays – official festival website, program, exhibitions and information about the finale (link)- Rovinj Photodays – official schedule of events 2026 from May 15 to 17 in Rovinj (link)- Rovinj Photodays – general information about the festival, finale and competition 2026 (link)- Rovinj Photodays – announcement of winners and finalists of the international competition 2026 (link)- Tourist Board of the City of Rovinj – events calendar and basic information about the Rovinj Photodays event (link)- Glas Istre – news about the opening of applications for the 19th international competition of contemporary photography Rovinj Photodays 2026 (link)
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