Ružica Vinodola 2026 changes its schedule due to the weather forecast: main programme on 22 and 23 August
Ružica Vinodola 2026, one of the most recognisable traditional events of Novi Vinodolski and Vinodol, will be held according to an adjusted schedule on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August. According to the organisers' latest notice, the programme planned for Thursday 20 and Friday 21 August has been cancelled due to the forecast of bad weather, while the competition, music, wine and gastronomic events have been rescheduled for the weekend. This changes the previously published programme for 2026, but the event's central concept remains intact: connecting the wine-growing tradition, old crafts, local gastronomy and a contemporary entertainment programme. Over the two days, visitors will be welcomed by events in the historic centre of Novi Vinodolski and in the vineyards of Vinska kuća Pavlomir, two locations that symbolically connect the historical and wine-growing identity of this region.
The organisers decided to concentrate the programme into two days so that, despite the unfavourable weather conditions during the first part of the originally planned dates, the most important events could still take place. On Saturday, the centre of the events will be the Old Town and the city squares of Novi Vinodolski, while on Sunday the event will move to the vineyards of Vinska kuća Pavlomir. For visitors planning to arrive from other places, the schedule change means that it is especially important to check the current timetable before travelling. Visitors who wish to stay for the entire weekend can review accommodation offers in Novi Vinodolski in advance, particularly because the programme takes place at several locations and ends late in the evening.
Saturday's competition begins at 9 p.m. in the Old Town
The competition programme on Saturday 22 August begins at 9 p.m. in the Old Town in Novi Vinodolski. According to the organisers' current announcement, nine candidates will test their skill and resourcefulness in a series of disciplines related to wine and household tasks. This format is based on the fundamental idea of Ružica Vinodola, which is not centred on a traditional beauty contest, but on the symbolic revival of former tasks and skills connected with grape harvesting, the everyday life of wine-growing families and wine culture. During the evening, the contestants will be accompanied by Trio Arka, while the entire competition programme on both days will be hosted by Borna Šmer.
Saturday evening will not be limited to the competition alone. Performances by Petar Dragojević and Trio Mirakul have been announced at Frankopanski trg, so the music programme will run in parallel with the central events in the old town centre. It is precisely the programme spread across several squares that allows Ružica Vinodola to develop into a broader city event rather than simply a stage with a single programme. The audience will be able to move between the competition section, musical performances, wine offerings, presentations of traditional skills and the fair of local products. In recent years, this organisation has become an important part of the event's identity because, alongside the competition, it brings together winemakers, craftspeople, associations, musicians and gastronomic exhibitors.
Wine festival and traditional crafts in the city centre
An important part of Saturday's programme will be the Wine Festival, where visitors will have an opportunity to taste wines from different Croatian wine-growing regions. At Ružica Vinodola, wine is more than an accompanying offering: it is the link between the historical story of the grape harvest and today's wine scene. Official presentations of the event have for years emphasised that its contemporary format is built around viticulture, winemaking and the culture of serving wine, which is why the competition disciplines include tasks connected with grapes, household work and wine presentation. The festival gives the public an opportunity to discover this part of the story outside the competition itself, through direct encounters with producers and different wine styles.
At Trg Vinodolskog zakona, the emphasis will be on preserving traditional knowledge and handicrafts. Presentations of basket weaving, blacksmithing, herbalism, pottery making, wood carving, mosaics, wool felting and lace-making are planned, as well as demonstrations of traditional games and other skills that shaped everyday life in Vinodol. In the context of the event, such activities play an important role because they expand the historical story beyond the vineyards and remind visitors that local heritage does not consist of a single legend or custom. The fair of local products additionally connects tradition with today's small producers and craftspeople, presenting heritage as a living practice rather than merely as museum content.
The venue also has a strong historical context. The City of Novi Vinodolski states that the main entrance to the Frankopan castle is located precisely at Trg Vinodolskog zakona and that the Vinodol Code, one of the most important monuments of Croatian legal and Glagolitic heritage, was compiled in the castle on 6 January 1288. Although Ružica Vinodola is not an event devoted specifically to the Vinodol Code, holding the programme in the old town centre naturally connects the contemporary tourist event with the Frankopan heritage of the area. The setting is therefore not merely a backdrop, but part of the story of Vinodol as an area with a long continuity of cultural, legal, wine-growing and traditional history.
Novljanski pijat as a gastronomic link between local ingredients and the event
Along with wine and music, Saturday's programme also brings a presentation of Novljanski pijat, a dish created for this event to provide Novi Vinodolski with a recognisable gastronomic motif through local ingredients. In earlier official announcements for Ružica Vinodola, Novljanski pijat was described as a fish dish combining ingredients characteristic of the local area and its wine story. In this year's programme it once again appears as a gastronomic feature complementing the Wine Festival and the presentation of local products. Its role is not only to provide food for visitors, but also to create a recognisable connection between the event, local products and a contemporary interpretation of traditional cuisine.
This combination of gastronomy and wine fits into the broader concept of Ružica Vinodola, in which different elements of local identity are presented simultaneously. The audience therefore does not merely follow the candidates' competition, but also has an opportunity to discover crafts, flavours, music and the historical setting. For Novi Vinodolski, a town on the northern Adriatic that developed from an old Frankopan fortress, the event is also a way of connecting cultural heritage with today's tourist experience. This is precisely why the programme is divided between the historic centre and the vineyards, in other words between the space in which the town's history is preserved and the space in which the wine-making tradition continues in a contemporary form.
Sunday evening moves to the vineyards of Vinska kuća Pavlomir
On Sunday 23 August, Ružica Vinodola moves to the vineyards of Vinska kuća Pavlomir. The programme begins at 8 p.m., and in the vineyard setting the candidates will take on tasks more directly connected with vineyard work. This part of the competition is the closest to the historical tradition on which the event is based. According to the official history of Ružica Vinodola, during the grape harvest the most diligent female harvester was chosen and given the symbolic title of Ružica, and tradition records that the final such selection took place in 1880. The contemporary event revived this story in 2004 and transformed it into a multi-day programme that interprets tradition through games, wine, music and gastronomy.
According to the current announcement, the atmosphere in Pavlomir on Sunday will be complemented by the band Insula and Trio Nebuloza, together with gastronomic offerings and wines. Moving the final part of the programme into the vineyards particularly emphasises the connection between the competition and the original custom. Instead of keeping the entire event in an urban setting, the audience and candidates enter a landscape directly connected with viticulture. In this way, the story of Ružica Vinodola is conveyed not only through words and scenery, but also through the venue itself.
At around 11 p.m., the proclamation of Ružica Vinodola 2026, her runners-up and the most likeable Ružica is planned. The winners can expect prizes, among which, according to the published information, a cruise on the Adriatic for two people and an autumn weekend in Rovinj particularly stand out. An earlier official announcement by the City of Novi Vinodolski regarding applications for 2026 stated that girls and women over the age of 16 from Croatia and abroad could apply for the title, without any requirement to come from Novi Vinodolski or Vinodol. In this way, the event retains its local historical basis while opening participation to candidates from a much wider area.
From grape harvester to the contemporary Ružica Vinodola
The historical background of the event is linked to a tradition from the time of the Frankopans and the ceremonial end of the grape harvest. According to the official account of the City of Novi Vinodolski, after the end of the harvest the most diligent female harvester would be crowned with a grapevine, and the chosen Ružica would lead the group of harvesters towards the town. The tradition also mentions the "skočac", a grapevine branch with particularly beautiful grapes that Ružica carried in her hand, while the procession was accompanied by song and traditional musical instruments. Tradition has preserved the account that the last Ružica in the old form was chosen in 1880.
Today's event does not attempt to literally reconstruct every detail of the former custom. Instead, it transforms the historical motif into a contemporary event in which the candidates compete in practical tasks while the audience simultaneously discovers wine, food, crafts and cultural heritage. On the occasion of the event's 20th anniversary in 2024, the City of Novi Vinodolski recalled that the contemporary Ružica Vinodola was revived in 2004. Over two decades, the format gradually expanded, and alongside the competition, the Wine Festival, fairs, presentations of old crafts, gastronomic programmes and concerts developed. This development explains why the 2026 schedule change does not merely mean moving a few performances, but requires coordination among a large number of participants and venues.
Ružica Vinodola also enters the new season of the series "Naše male fešte"
This year's edition will also have a television documentary dimension. According to the organisers' announcement, Ružica Vinodola 2026 will be filmed as part of the new season of the series "Naše male fešte", produced for Croatian Radiotelevision by Izvan fokusa. On its pages dedicated to independent producers, HRT states that the second season of the series continues to follow smaller local events, their organisers, participants and the people who create and sustain them. Filming in Novi Vinodolski therefore gives the event additional visibility beyond the venue itself, while also documenting the way in which traditional content is adapted to a contemporary audience.
Such a format is particularly well suited to Ružica Vinodola because its story cannot be reduced to a single competition or a single stage. Tourist boards, local government, cultural institutions, winemakers, associations, performers, craftspeople and numerous volunteers all take part in it. Television production can capture precisely this layer of the event: the preparations, the people behind the programme, the transfer of knowledge and the community's relationship with a custom that has grown from historical tradition into a contemporary event. HRT's series "Naše male fešte" is itself conceived around such stories, with an emphasis on the people who create and "live" local festivities.
Who is behind Ružica Vinodola 2026
The organisers of the event are the Tourist Board of the City of Novi Vinodolski and the Tourist Board of Vinodol Municipality. The City of Novi Vinodolski, Vinodol Municipality, the Cultural Centre of the City of Novi Vinodolski, Vinska kuća Pavlomir, the Association of Friends of Grapes and Wine "Ružica Vinodola", the Vina Kvarnera Association, KUD Ilija Dorčić and Katedra čakavskog sabora Novljansko kolo participate in the organisation and implementation. The event is supported by the Kvarner Tourist Board and the Croatian National Tourist Board, while the listed sponsors include Katarina Line, Adria Mare Travel Agency, Bartelo Mali, Skipper, API Kvarner, Galerija suvenirnica Leut, Cvjetni atelje "Zola" and Vinska kuća Pavlomir.
The broad circle of organisers and partners shows that Ružica Vinodola simultaneously belongs to the fields of culture, tourism, gastronomy and winemaking. This is precisely why the programme also includes activities that at first glance are not directly related to the competition: old crafts, local products, gastronomic presentations and the wine festival. Their common purpose is to present Vinodol as an area where history and tradition continue through contemporary forms of events. For visitors attending both programme days, it is practical to plan their stay between the town centre and Pavlomir, while accommodation for visitors to the event may be useful for those who do not wish to leave after the programme ends late at night.
Valid schedule for 22 and 23 August
The most important information for visitors is that the previously published schedule no longer applies in full. According to the organisers' latest notice, the events planned for 20 and 21 August have been cancelled due to the weather forecast, while Ružica Vinodola 2026 will take place on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday 22 August, the competition begins at 9 p.m. in the Old Town of Novi Vinodolski, accompanied by parallel musical, wine, gastronomic and traditional programmes in the town centre. On Sunday 23 August, the programme continues from 8 p.m. in the vineyards of Vinska kuća Pavlomir, while the proclamation of the winner and the other awarded candidates is expected at around 11 p.m.
The weather-related change has therefore shortened the originally planned schedule, but it has not removed the key elements of the event. The competition involving nine candidates, wine, old crafts, Novljanski pijat, concerts and the final proclamation all remain part of the weekend programme. In this way, Ružica Vinodola continues its fundamental idea in 2026: to transfer the historical tradition of the most diligent female grape harvester into a format that is understandable and appealing to a contemporary audience, without breaking the connection with the vineyards, the old town centre and the people who preserve this tradition.
Sources:
- City of Novi Vinodolski - official announcement on applications and the originally announced programme of Ružica Vinodola 2026 (link)
- City of Novi Vinodolski - history and the 20th anniversary of the Ružica Vinodola event, including the tradition of choosing Ružica and the revival of the event in 2004 (link)
- City of Novi Vinodolski - information about the Frankopan castle and Trg Vinodolskog zakona (link)
- Novi list - earlier announcement of the Ružica Vinodola 2026 programme, used to verify performers, competition format and prizes before the subsequent schedule change (link)
- HRT - official information about the second season of the documentary series "Naše male fešte" and production by Izvan fokusa (link)