Demižana conquers Zadar: foreign guests take wines from the Zadar region home after tasting
This summer, the atrium of Cedulin Palace in the historic center of Zadar has become a place where the city's tourist experience meets wines, olive oil, cheeses, honey, juices and other products from local farms. The Demižana wines of the Zadar region event, which began on July 23 and runs until August 22, 2026, brings together winemakers, family farms, tourist boards and visitors interested in wine and gastronomy. According to information published by the Zadar County Tourist Board on August 10, foreign guests are showing particularly strong interest, and some of them buy whole bottles after the tasting and take them home. The organizers see such a reaction as confirmation that local products can become a recognizable part of the travel experience, rather than merely an offer consumed during a single evening. Until the finale on August 22, visitors have less than two weeks left to get to know the producers and different parts of Zadar County.
From a glass of wine to a souvenir that travels across borders
According to a report by the Zadar County Tourist Board, the Cedulin atrium begins filling up in the early evening hours, while foreign visitors are particularly interested in the origin of the wines, the grape varieties used, the production methods and the possibility of purchasing them later. This interest is precisely one of the more important characteristics of the event: the tasting is not conceived as an anonymous sampling, but as a direct encounter between buyer and producer. Visitors can ask who is behind the label, where the vineyards are located and how the character of a particular area influences the product. The diversity of the Zadar region is visible within a relatively small area, from the islands and coastline to Ravni kotari in the hinterland. When a guest buys a bottle after a conversation and tasting to take to another country, the local wine also becomes a kind of continuation of the journey after returning home.
The director of the Zadar County Tourist Board, Vanja Čvrljak, emphasized that the organizers are particularly pleased by precisely this pattern of guest behavior. According to him, buying bottles after tasting means that visitors do not leave Zadar only with photographs, but also with a taste of the destination that they can share with family and friends. Čvrljak also highlighted the strong interest during weekends and assessed that guests are looking for authentic experiences, contact with producers and an opportunity to get to know the destination in a different way. This statement fits into the broader promotional direction that the Zadar County Tourist Board is also developing through other projects dedicated to local products and direct encounters between tourists and small producers. The Croatian National Tourist Board, for example, announced in April 2026 that the Welcome Taste & Buy project in Zadar County places direct sales, learning about production methods and connecting family farms with customers among its main objectives.
Wineries from different parts of the region in one city atrium
The Demižana program includes the wineries Buljat, Vinketa, Kraljevski vinogradi, Škaulj, Fiolić, Ožaković and Esencija, while Figurica, Jokić, Nimčević, Bora and Vina otoka Paga are also represented. According to information published with the current program, white wines, rosés and sparkling wines are offered at a promotional price of three euros per deciliter, while red wines cost four euros. The offer changes, so the event is not conceived as a static fair where exactly the same exhibitors and products are present every evening. This gives visitors the opportunity to discover different parts of the regional wine scene over several visits. For tourists staying in Zadar for several days, such a format creates a reason to return, while allowing producers to present themselves to an audience that might otherwise never visit their cellars or tasting rooms.
The broader context of winemaking in the Zadar region shows why the organizers are building the event around the geographical range of the region. The Zadar County Tourist Board states on its wine route that viticulture in this area has a tradition stretching back more than three millennia and highlights vineyards and tasting rooms from Ravni kotari to the coast and islands. Among the varieties found in the regional offer are internationally known Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, as well as varieties strongly associated with Croatian viticulture, such as Maraština, Pošip, Plavina, Crljenak kaštelanski and Gegić. The official wine route particularly mentions Kraljevski vinogradi, which cultivates more than 300,000 vines at several locations, and Vina otoka Paga, where visitors are also introduced to Gegić, a variety associated with the winemaking tradition of Pag. Demižana temporarily concentrates this otherwise geographically dispersed wine landscape in the center of Zadar.
Food, olive oil, salt and spirits expand the wine story
Although wine is the central theme, the content of the event is considerably broader. Cedulin Palace hosts olive growers, producers of cheese, honey, juices and other delicacies, including Esencija Olive Oil, OPG Čudina, OPG Bade, Dolina maslina, OPG Anđelko Marijačić, OPG Domagoj Mikulić, OPG Butić, OPG Gašpar, OPG Matulić, Lički sokol and the Roca farm. Solana Pag and the Kohelet distillery with craft gins and liqueurs also participate in the program. Such a combination makes it possible to view wine not in isolation, but as part of the broader gastronomic picture of the area where it is produced. A visitor who comes for one label can therefore also encounter olive oil, cheese, honey or another product created in the same or a nearby area.
Connecting different producers also has practical importance for small businesses. Instead of each of them separately trying to attract guests to more distant locations, a joint presentation in a busy urban space brings the products closer to an audience already staying in Zadar. The Zadar County Tourist Board applies a similar model through the Welcome Taste & Buy project, which the Croatian National Tourist Board says is focused on promoting and marketing the products of family farms and small producers. In that project, the emphasis is on learning about how farms operate, production methods and direct purchasing, while Demižana transfers the same elements into an evening urban format. For the visitor, the result is simple: the product gains a face, a location and a story, which often increases its value as an authentic travel souvenir.
Seven tourism clusters present the different faces of Zadar County
Additional breadth is given to Demižana by the local tourism clusters Biogradska rivijera, Arhipelag, Ninska rivijera, Otok Pag, Rivijera Starigrad, Ravni kotari and Novigradsko more. Each presents the products and distinctive features of its area, bringing coastal, island and hinterland gastronomy together in one place. For an international visitor who may know only Zadar as a city or a single beach where they are staying, this is an opportunity to gain a much broader picture of the region. The event thus also functions as an information point for future excursions: a conversation about wine from Ravni kotari, a product from Pag or a farm in the hinterland can become an incentive to visit the place where the product originated. In this way, tourist spending and interest can potentially spread beyond the narrowest part of the city center.
Such an approach also corresponds with newer projects of the regional tourist board. The Croatian National Tourist Board announced in June 2026 that Zadar County is revitalizing cultural routes created through the international HERA project, linking cultural heritage with traditional products, local gastronomy and authentic experiences. The aim of these routes is to encourage exploration of the wider area, including Zadar, Benkovac, Asseria, Nin and Pag, rather than keeping interest focused on a single location. Demižana has a different format, but is based on a similar principle of connection: the city serves as an entry point, while the story of the products continues toward the islands, coast and hinterland. This is precisely why presentation through tourism clusters has greater value than a simple list of exhibitors.
Cedulin Palace gives the event a historical and tourist setting
The venue was not chosen by chance. The Zadar Tourist Board states that Cedulin Palace dates from the 13th century, that it is a protected immovable cultural asset and that it is located at the entrance to the historic center, in the immediate vicinity of Zadar's fortifications included on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Venetian Works of Defence. The renovated part of the palace now houses the Tourist Information Center, while the atrium is used for presentations, exhibitions, concerts, gastronomic events and other cultural and musical programs. Demižana therefore fits naturally into the existing function of the space: a place where visitors seek information about the city and region simultaneously becomes a stage for their flavors and producers. The historic architecture also gives the event an atmosphere that would be difficult to reproduce in a conventional exhibition hall.
For visitors, the location is practical because it lies directly in the center of tourist movement through Zadar. The event can be combined with an evening walk through the historic center, sightseeing of city landmarks or an extended stay on the Peninsula. According to the latest information published on August 10, the program takes place every day from 7 p.m. to midnight, with musical content accompanying tastings and producer presentations. An earlier official announcement of the event, published before it began, stated a starting time of 6 p.m., so visitors planning to attend are advised to check the organizers' current daily schedule. Those combining a trip to Zadar with Demižana and other summer programs can also check accommodation in Zadar and plan an evening visit without the need for additional travel outside the city.
Authenticity as an increasingly important part of the tourism product
Demižana fits into a tourism model in which a destination seeks to offer visitors more than sightseeing at its best-known attractions. In this model, conversation with a producer, tasting a product connected to a particular area, learning about production methods and the possibility of taking part of the experience home become important. In recent years, the Zadar County Tourist Board has been developing such an approach through gastronomic and cultural projects, and in 2026 it is further emphasizing it through content that connects local producers, cultural heritage and different parts of the region. At the level of Demižana itself, this is visible in a simple pattern: the guest tastes, talks, asks about the origin and finally buys the product. For small producers, such direct contact can be just as valuable as the sale itself during the event, because it creates the possibility of later recognizing the label and purchasing it again.
It is particularly interesting that the organizers highlight the interest of foreign guests as one of the signs of success. For a regional product, an international visitor plays a dual role: they are a customer during their stay, but after returning home they can also become someone who introduces the product to a new circle of potential consumers. A bottle of wine brought from Zadar has not only economic value but also the function of a personal recommendation, especially when it is accompanied by a story about the producer and the place where it was tasted. This is precisely why direct encounters with winemakers and family farms have a different effect from buying an anonymous souvenir. The organizers of Demižana are trying to turn this element into one of the event's recognizable features.
What visitors can expect until August 22
Until the event ends on August 22, the program will continue daily in the atrium of Cedulin Palace. According to the latest published information, the evening program runs from 7 p.m. to midnight, with music, tastings and rotating exhibitors, which means that individual evenings may feature a different selection of producers and products. The basic structure remains the same: wines from the Zadar region are at the center of the program, accompanied by olive oils, cheeses, honey, juices, salt, spirits and other products from local farms. Tourism clusters are also presented to visitors in one place, so the event can serve as a kind of summary of the gastronomic and tourism diversity of Zadar County. For the exact daily schedule and any changes, it is advisable to follow the organizers' latest announcements, especially because the concept is based on rotating the offer.
The reactions so far show that the public has embraced this format. According to the Zadar County Tourist Board, it is particularly noticeable that foreign guests do not stop at tasting, but buy bottles to take back to their countries, while interest increases on weekends. It is precisely this combination of tasting, conversation and purchasing that gives Demižana a dimension that goes beyond a conventional evening event. Products from the islands, coast and hinterland meet in a medieval palace, while their common denominator becomes their origin in the Zadar region. Until August 22, this model will continue every evening, giving visitors the opportunity to discover Zadar through flavors and producers the chance for their labels and products to travel far beyond Croatia's borders after the summer.
Sources:
- Zadar County Tourist Board / official event calendar – dates and basic description of the Demižana wines of the Zadar region event (link)
- Croatian National Tourist Board, Business HTZ – official announcement of the Demižana event, event dates and organizational context (link)
- 023.hr / information from the Zadar County Tourist Board – current situation as of August 10, 2026, interest of foreign guests, statement by Vanja Čvrljak, exhibitors, prices and evening program (link)
- Zadar County Tourist Board – official Zadar wine route, context of viticulture, varieties and wineries in the region (link)
- Zadar Tourist Board – information about Cedulin Palace, its history, protection and present-day tourism function (link)
- Croatian National Tourist Board, Business HTZ – Welcome Taste & Buy project and the goals of promoting local family farms and direct sales (link)
- Croatian National Tourist Board, Business HTZ – revitalization of HERA cultural routes and connecting heritage, local gastronomy and sustainable tourism (link)