Small Antiques Fair in Rovinj on August 20: Valdibora once again brings together collectors, antique dealers and lovers of traditional skills
Rovinj's Valdibora Square will once again be a meeting place on Thursday, August 20, 2026, for lovers of antiques, collectors, antique dealers, artists and visitors who want to discover objects with a story and part of the local cultural heritage. According to the official calendar of the Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board, the Small Antiques Fair begins at 8 a.m. and is organized by the Open University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno. During the season, the event is held on Thursdays, which has made it a recognizable part of Rovinj's summer outdoor program. The organizer describes the fair as a place where experienced connoisseurs of art and antiques, collectors, artists, antique dealers, as well as visitors who are only beginning to discover an interest in old objects, come together. This week's edition is particularly interesting because a creative fresco workshop, "Buon fresco", dedicated to the traditional technique of wall painting, has also been announced for the same day.
The fair is held at Valdibora Square, one of the important open urban spaces in Rovinj-Rovigno, and official information from the organizer confirms that this year's cycle of the Small Antiques Fair is scheduled from June 25 to September 24. The Open University also states that this program is traditionally held every Thursday from June to October and on Easter Monday, while the current 2026 schedule clearly marks the seasonal cycle through the end of September. For visitors, this means that the event is not conceived as a one-time exhibition, but as a regular place for exchange, meetings and discovering objects belonging to different periods and styles. It is precisely this rhythm that allows the selection on the stalls to change from week to week, depending on the exhibitors and the objects they bring. The official description does not prescribe a single catalog of objects, so the specific selection at each edition of the fair may vary.
Valdibora as an open stage for antiques and collecting
The Small Antiques Fair is based on a simple concept: for several hours, a public square becomes a space where objects from the past are once again placed at the center of attention. According to the Open University, the event brings together antique enthusiasts, antique dealers, collectors, artists and art connoisseurs, and in practice such a format gives visitors enough room to talk with exhibitors and examine items in greater detail. The value of fairs like this lies not only in the possibility of making a purchase, but also in encountering objects that often carry traces of former everyday life, craftsmanship, design or artistic creation. One person may be attracted to an old everyday object, another to a print, a decorative detail, a collectible piece or an object whose purpose is no longer recognizable at first glance. Since the organizer does not publish in advance a list of all exhibitors and goods for every Thursday, part of the experience comes precisely from the unpredictability of the offer.
Visitors looking for a particular type of object may find it useful to arrive early and set aside time to walk through the entire area, while also keeping in mind that the fair is not the same as a museum or a professionally cataloged exhibition. Information about the age, origin, authorship or value of an individual object may depend on the information provided by the seller, so for more expensive or rare pieces it makes sense to request as much information as possible before purchasing. Official announcements for the Small Antiques Fair do not state that independent professional authentication of all offered objects is carried out on site. For this reason, the event is best experienced as a fair and a gathering of the collecting community rather than as a guarantee of expert assessment of every exhibited object. For many visitors, conversation, comparison and the discovery of unexpected objects are an important part of the experience.
Special program on August 20: "Buon fresco" fresco workshop
This Thursday, the Small Antiques Fair also gains an additional educational feature. The Open University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno has announced a creative fresco workshop, "Buon fresco", at Valdibora Square for August 20, led by Hari Vidović, a professor of visual arts. According to the organizer's description, the workshop is designed to introduce participants to fresco wall painting through the history of Istria and explain the basic stages involved in creating a fresco. The emphasis is not only on watching a demonstration but on practical work, so each participant should go through several key steps of the traditional process. In this way, the fair program expands beyond the classic viewing of antiques and connects material heritage with the transmission of knowledge about old painting techniques.
The organizer states that participants will first prepare and apply the fresco plaster known as "arriccio" to the base according to the recipe of the old "buon fresco" technique. After that, a scaled sketch, or tracing, is made to serve as a template for painting, followed by preparation of the final plaster layer, the "intonaco". The motif is transferred onto the fresh surface and painted with pigments, after which the finishing work follows. The workshop description specifically mentions the possibility for participants to sign their work, if they wish, using the Glagolitic script. This approach gives the program an educational dimension because visitors do not receive only a finished visual result, but go through the logic of a process that for centuries formed the basis of wall painting.
According to an announcement published in July by the Istrian media outlet Istra24, the fresco workshop is part of a broader cycle of free workshops and presentations of old crafts and traditional skills held during the summer alongside the Small Antiques Fair. The same source states that the program is organized by the Open University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno and co-financed by the Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board. In addition to frescoes, the program also includes the making of Istrian baskets from willow, the creation of objects from stone and wood, and hand weaving on a loom. The idea is that traditional knowledge should not be presented only as historical information, but through practical demonstration and participation by interested members of the public. In this way, Valdibora becomes a space of living heritage on selected fair Thursdays, where older processes are passed on through direct hands-on work.
The program continues after the August edition
The Small Antiques Fair on August 20 is not the final opportunity to visit this year's cycle. The official calendar of the Open University states that the season runs until September 24, and after the fresco workshop several more themed gatherings related to traditional skills are scheduled. The making of Istrian baskets from willow is announced for August 27, while a workshop for creating objects from stone and wood is planned for September 10. On September 17, the program is expected to be dedicated to hand weaving on a loom. These activities show that the organizers do not treat the Small Antiques Fair merely as a sales event, but as a framework in which various forms of local craftsmanship and creative practices can be presented.
In its announcement of the summer program, Istra24 states that the Istrian basket-weaving workshop is led by Livio Bratačić, while Mile and Luka Lončar are presented for the creation of objects from stone and wood. Biserka Vranić is named for the hand-weaving workshop, where she demonstrates work on a loom and the process from setting up the warp to interlacing the threads. These details further explain why the accompanying programs are important to the identity of the event: visitors do not merely look at finished objects, but can also discover the ways in which they are made. At a time when much production takes place industrially and outside the view of consumers, demonstrations of manual work bring attention back to the material, tools, time and skill required for making an object. For this reason, such workshops can also be interesting to audiences who do not usually follow antiques fairs.
What to know before coming to the Small Antiques Fair
The most important information for the August 20 edition is that the official tourist calendar lists the start at 8 a.m. at Valdibora Square in Rovinj-Rovigno. The organizer is the Open University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno, and the Tourist Board calendar provides the contact telephone number +385 (0)52 830 300 and the email address info@pour.hr. On a dedicated project page, the Open University also lists the contacts 052 841 246, 095 211 65 78 and the email address melita.jurkota@pour.hr for information and registration. Since the timing of individual accompanying programs may differ from the basic fair schedule, those interested in taking part in the fresco workshop should check the organizer's latest notice before arriving. The workshop itself has been confirmed for Thursday, August 20, at Valdibora Square, but at the time of checking, the official workshop page did not state a clear starting time.
- Event: Small Antiques Fair
- Date: Thursday, August 20, 2026
- Fair start: 8:00
- Location: Valdibora Square, Rovinj-Rovigno, Istria County, Croatia
- Organizer: Open University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno
- Special program: creative "Buon fresco" fresco workshop led by Hari Vidović
- 2026 seasonal cycle: from June 25 to September 24, according to the Open University program
For travelers visiting Rovinj specifically because of its summer cultural program, the fair can be incorporated into a full-day stay in the city, and because of the morning start it is useful to plan arrival in advance. Those staying for several days can review accommodation offers in Rovinj and coordinate their stay with other events in the city. Thursday, August 20, according to the official tourist calendar, also brings other cultural events in the evening, further confirming the intensity of Rovinj's summer program. However, the Small Antiques Fair differs from larger evening events through its morning rhythm and direct contact between exhibitors and the public. For visitors interested in antiques and handicrafts, its main advantage is precisely the slower browsing, conversation and opportunity to participate in a workshop.
From a fair of objects to a place for transferring knowledge
The most interesting aspect of the 2026 Small Antiques Fair is the way the organizers connect the trading of old objects with the presentation of living craft and artistic skills. On one side are objects that have already gone through part of their lifespan and are now finding a new audience, while on the other are processes through which new objects are created by hand, using knowledge passed from masters to participants. The "Buon fresco" workshop is a good example of this combination because it transforms a historical painting technique into an experience in which the public actively participates. Instead of viewing a fresco merely as a completed work of art, participants become familiar with layers of plaster, the transfer of drawings, pigments and work on a fresh surface. In this way, the story of heritage moves from the level of general presentation toward a concrete experience of materials and technique.
For Rovinj-Rovigno, a city with a very active summer calendar of cultural events, the Small Antiques Fair represents a program that repeats throughout the season and is not tied to only one evening or one stage. Its audience can be very diverse: from serious collectors and people specifically searching for a certain item to travelers who come to Valdibora out of curiosity. Official announcements emphasize precisely this openness toward those who are already connoisseurs of art as well as those who would only like to become one. In this sense, the event has not only a commercial function but also a social and educational value, especially when workshops in traditional skills are added. The August 20 edition will therefore, alongside the usual fair atmosphere, have an additional theme connecting Istrian artistic heritage with practical creative work.
For everyone planning to attend, the basic information is simple: Thursday, August 20, 2026, Valdibora Square, with the fair beginning at 8 a.m. The safest approach is to check the latest announcement from the Open University before traveling, especially if the main reason for the visit is participation in the "Buon fresco" workshop, since details of accompanying programs may be updated. Visitors wishing to combine the fair with a short or multi-day stay can consider accommodation near the center of Rovinj, but the event itself remains above all a local cultural and collecting event open to a broad audience. As long as the seasonal cycle continues, Valdibora will keep fulfilling its Thursday role as a place where old objects, manual skills and the curiosity of the public meet in the same space. For the August edition, that story will additionally be marked by fresco - a technique that is literally created layer by layer.
Sources:
- Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board - official events calendar with the date, 8:00 a.m. start, location and organizer details (link)
- Open University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno - official Small Antiques Fair project page, seasonal schedule, event description and contacts (link)
- Open University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno - official announcement of the creative "Buon fresco" fresco workshop, work program and information about workshop leader Hari Vidović (link)
- Istra24 - overview of the summer cycle of old-craft workshops accompanying the Small Antiques Fair, including frescoes, basket weaving, stone and wood work and hand weaving (link)