Motovun brings the 29th Motovun Off Road, sports tournaments, May Day bean stew and a cultural program for Labour Day
This year, Motovun will again mark Labour Day with a multi-day program that combines adrenaline driving, recreational sport, socializing, gastronomic tradition and cultural content. The central event will be the 29th Motovun Off Road, a traditional event held on 30 April and 1 May, which over the years has become one of the most recognizable May Day events in inland Istria. The program will take place in Motovun and at its foot, especially in the Kanal area, which during Labour Day becomes a gathering place for competitors, sports teams, visitors and off-road driving enthusiasts.
This year's edition continues a tradition that began back in 1994, when the first race was launched at an amateur level as an initiative of local enthusiasts and an opportunity to socialize on the occasion of Labour Day. From that idea developed an event that today brings together participants from the wider region, and the Motovun Off Road Club, officially registered in 2017, took over the organization and continued to expand the program through competitive, recreational and accompanying content. According to data from local tourist and municipal sources, the event is traditionally held from 30 April to 1 May, while Labour Day in Motovun has for years also been connected with a five-a-side football tournament, a bocce tournament and the distribution of May Day bean stew.
For visitors who plan to stay longer than one day, Motovun is also a particularly attractive destination because of its location itself. The hilltop town, the view of the Mirna valley, the sports program at the foot of the town and the evening events create a framework for an extended weekend in which an active stay, sightseeing and socializing can be combined. Due to the expected greater interest in the May Day program, it is useful to check
accommodation offers in Motovun in good time, especially for those who also want to follow the evening part of the events after the end of the daytime sports activities.
The two-day off road program starts on 30 April
The program of the 29th Motovun Off Road starts on Thursday, 30 April 2026, when participant registrations and the prologue on the polygon are planned. The prologue has an important organizational and competitive role because it determines the order of the starting list, and for the audience it represents a first insight into the drivers, vehicles and atmosphere that will mark the main day of the event. After this introductory part follows the start of the night drive, content that traditionally gives the event a special dynamic because off-road driving takes place in different conditions from daytime speed trials and tourist routes.
The night drive is part of the recognizable character of the Motovun Off Road because it shows that the event is not conceived only as a one-day sports gathering, but as a two-day program with multiple levels of participation. Competitors get the opportunity to test their vehicles, orientation and readiness in more demanding conditions, while the organizers, through the schedule on the polygon and accompanying logistics, lay the foundation for the main program on 1 May. For spectators, the introductory day is interesting primarily because of the atmosphere, the gathering of teams and the announcement of what follows on Labour Day itself.
The Motovun off road tradition is not limited only to one spring event. According to available data, the Motovun Off Road Club also participates in other activities during the year, including trail maintenance, cleaning of fire roads and environmental actions, and it also organizes the autumn Teran Offroad. In this way, the May Day event fits into the broader work of the club, which connects sport, recreation, volunteering and the local community. It is precisely this combination of competition and social work that is one of the reasons why Motovun Off Road has maintained continuity and recognition for almost three decades.
The main program on Labour Day brings sport, speed stages and socializing at Kanal
The largest part of the program will be held on Friday, 1 May 2026, when Motovun marks International Labour Day through a series of sports and entertainment content. The five-a-side football tournament starts at 8 a.m. at Kanal, and the traditional bocce tournament starts at 9 a.m. Such a schedule shows that the May Day gathering is not focused only on off road driving, but also on broader sports recreation, local teams and visitors who come for the full-day program. Kanal, as an area at the foot of Motovun, has an important role because it brings together competitive, gastronomic and social content.
The central part of the day, however, will be the off road program, which includes tourist and extreme drives, children's off road content and competitive speed stages on the polygon. The speed trials on the polygon are announced from 2 p.m. and are expected to be the most attractive part of the program for spectators. It is the part of the event in which the audience can follow, in one place, driving skill, the technical preparedness of the vehicles and the demanding nature of the terrain, which is exactly what gave Motovun Off Road its reputation among enthusiasts of adrenaline and extreme driving.
Tourist drives give the program a broader character because they are not intended only for the most demanding competitive teams, but also for participants who want to experience off-road driving in a controlled and organized form. Extreme drives, on the other hand, retain the sporting and adrenaline identity of the event, especially for the audience that comes to watch the most demanding parts of the polygon. Children's off road content additionally broadens the audience and shows that the program is shaped as a family event, with a clear distinction between competitive, recreational and entertainment segments.
In the evening hours, the award ceremony is planned, after which an entertainment program with a DJ follows. This final part has an important social function because it gathers participants after the end of the sports part of the day and rounds off the May Day socializing. Visitors who want to follow the daytime races and stay for the evening program should plan their arrival, parking and return in advance, and for a longer stay it is practical to check
accommodation near the event location in Motovun.
May Day bean stew remains an important part of the tradition
One of the most recognizable parts of Motovun's marking of Labour Day this year will again be the distribution of May Day bean stew. According to the program announcement, the bean stew will be distributed at 1 p.m. to residents of the Municipality of Motovun and participants in sports activities, and the distribution will be held in the parking lot next to the bocce court. This tradition fits into the broader custom of marking 1 May in Croatia, in which a shared meal, outdoor socializing and sports activities have an equally important symbolic and social role as the non-working day itself.
In Motovun, the May Day bean stew does not appear as a separate gastronomic addition, but as the central moment of gathering between the morning tournaments and the afternoon off road speed stages. Such a schedule allows different parts of the program to connect naturally: sports teams, competitors, visitors and the local population meet in the same space before the most attractive part of the off road program. That is precisely why the May Day celebration in Motovun has the character of a local tradition, but also of an open event that attracts a wider audience.
According to earlier reports from the event, the distribution of bean stew and sports competitions at Kanal have for years been an integral part of the May Day gathering. Motovun Off Road, the bocce and five-a-side football tournaments and socializing at the foot of the town shape a program that does not rely on only one type of audience. Some visitors come for the adrenaline, some for sport, some for the relaxed May Day atmosphere, and some for Motovun itself as a destination. Such breadth of the program helps the event retain its recognizability from year to year.
Cultural continuation of the weekend in the Five Towers Gallery
The program continues on Saturday, 2 May 2026, with cultural content in Motovun's Five Towers Gallery. A travel lecture by Jurica Galić Juka entitled “The World Through My Lens” has been announced, scheduled for 6 p.m., as well as the opening of the photography exhibition of the same name. Since the delivered announcement lists an illogical time of 29:00 for the opening of the exhibition, this text does not state a precise opening time, except that it is a program that follows on from the lecture and takes place as part of the Saturday cultural section of the May Day weekend.
The Five Towers Gallery is located in Motovun, at Resselov trg 1, in the municipal palace building, and according to data from the Fotovun Photographers' Association, it is a modernly equipped gallery space of about 200 square metres. Such a space gives a different tone to the finale of the May Day program: after two days of sport, off-road driving and open space, Saturday brings quieter cultural content focused on travel writing, photography and visual storytelling. In this way, the event expands beyond the framework of a sports event and takes the form of an extended weekend with multiple thematic layers.
The travel lecture and photography exhibition fit into Motovun's identity as a place that, alongside sports and tourist content, also nurtures cultural programs. Photography is a particularly suitable medium for the end of such a weekend because it connects travel, personal experience, space and audience. In the context of the program taking place after Labour Day, the cultural content can also attract those visitors who do not primarily associate Motovun with off road driving, but with ambience, art and sightseeing.
Motovun Off Road as a combination of sport, volunteering and local identity
The importance of Motovun Off Road does not arise only from the number of participants or the attractiveness of the polygon, but also from the fact that the event grew out of a local initiative and remained connected with the work of an association, volunteers and the community. Municipal and tourist sources state that the club brings together off road sport enthusiasts from Motovun and surrounding places and that through its activities it encourages recreation, environmental values and social life. Such a model of organization distinguishes the event from commercial events that rely exclusively on spectacle; here, the continuity of work, maintenance of trails, landscaping of spaces and preservation of tradition are also important.
Off road driving in this form requires good terrain preparation, clearly defined routes, safety organization and participant experience. Although the program has an entertainment character, it is an event that requires responsibility from drivers, organizers and spectators, especially on the parts of the polygon that attract the most attention. That is why the prologue, starting lists, driving schedule and controlled competitive segments are important not only for the sporting order, but also for the safe running of the event.
Motovun Off Road at the same time also contributes to the tourist visibility of inland Istria. Labour Day traditionally marks the beginning of a more intensive excursion and tourist period, and events like this give visitors a concrete reason to come outside the main summer season. Motovun is thereby presented not only as a historic hilltop town, but also as a place of an active weekend, sports competition and cultural program. For that reason, for those who plan several days of stay, it is useful to review
accommodation for visitors to Motovun Off Road earlier.
Program of the 29th Motovun Off Road and Labour Day
Thursday, 30 April 2026
- Registrations of participants in the 29th Motovun Off Road.
- Prologue on the polygon to determine the order of the starting list.
- Start of the night drive.
Friday, 1 May 2026
- 8 a.m. – start of the five-a-side football tournament at Kanal.
- 9 a.m. – start of the traditional bocce tournament.
- Full-day off road program with tourist and extreme drives.
- Children's off road content.
- 1 p.m. – distribution of May Day bean stew to residents of the Municipality of Motovun and participants in sports activities in the parking lot next to the bocce court.
- 2 p.m. – competitive speed stages on the polygon, the most attractive part of the program for spectators.
- Evening hours – award ceremony and entertainment program with a DJ.
Saturday, 2 May 2026
- 6 p.m. – travel lecture by Jurica Galić Juka “The World Through My Lens”.
- Opening of the photography exhibition of the same name in the Five Towers Gallery in Motovun.
Extended May Day weekend marked by adrenaline and content for different audiences
This year's program shows that Labour Day in Motovun is developing as a multi-layered event, and not only as a single competition. Off road drives, bocce, five-a-side football, May Day bean stew, children's content and the cultural continuation of the weekend create a schedule that can attract different groups of visitors. For lovers of motoring and off-road driving, the most important will be the polygon and speed stages, for sports teams the tournaments at Kanal, for families the daytime program and children's content, and for the cultural audience Saturday's lecture and photography exhibition.
Motovun thereby uses the advantage of its location and recognizable ambience. Events at the foot of the town have a different energy from the programs in the old core, and it is precisely this combination that allows visitors to experience several different faces of the place during one weekend. The day can begin with a sports tournament or following off-road driving, continue with a shared lunch and watching the speed stages, and end with the evening program or a walk through the old core. For those who want to avoid a one-day arrival and return,
accommodation in Motovun and the surrounding area can be a practical solution for more calmly following the entire schedule.
The organizers invite lovers of adrenaline, sport, culture and a relaxed May Day atmosphere to spend the extended weekend in Motovun. According to the available program, the 29th Motovun Off Road and accompanying content continue a tradition that grew from local socializing into a recognizable event, while retaining its May Day character: a shared gathering, outdoor sport, bean stew, music and socializing in a space that is attractive enough for both competitors and the audience.
Sources:- Colours of Istria – event announcement “Labour Day in Motovun – Motovun Off Road 2026” (link)- Colours of Istria – data on the Motovun Off Road Club and the race tradition (link)- Municipality of Motovun-Montona – official data on the Off Road Motovun Club, the history of the event and the club's activities (link)- Motovun Tourist Board – overview of events and description of the Labour Day celebration in Motovun (link)- Glas Istre – report on the 28th Motovun Off Road and the May Day celebration in 2025 (link)- Fotovun Photographers' Association – data on the Five Towers Gallery in Motovun (link)
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