The Race of the Ring - the most famous Istrian summer event

For the long 280 years this knight game was almost forgotten among the bunch of old writings. So many years have passed since the oldest record of the Race of the Ring to its revival by the local population.

The Race of the Ring is a knight game in which horsemen must cross the 150 meter long path and with a spear hit the ring consisting of two concentric circles interconnected in such a way that there are four fields between them. They have to do this in just 12 seconds. They pass the track three times, and the points from three races are added. The one who has the most points is the winner.

The first record of the Race on the Ring dates back to 1696. At that time it was organized by the Venetian Loredan family during fair events in the village of Barban in Istria, and the contestants were mostly noblemen. After that, the story of the Race on the Ring has been forgotten for almost three centuries, and then the Barban residents reconstructed it on August 14, 1976. Since then, this knight game has been held every third weekend in August, and has been attracting visitors from Croatia and abroad.

The Race of the Ring is not missed by many prominent figures, and it represents the most famous Istrian summer event. During the three days of the event, in addition to the Race of the Ring, there is a whole host of fun events such as futsal tournaments; tournament in briškula, traditional card game, musical concerts of various directions, and since 1995, and the second day of the event, there is also a pre-competition called "Vitica" Race. The Race of the Ring takes place on the last day.