Labin, Istria – Visual Theatre Festival

Istria and Kvarner probably don’t get the space they deserve on Croatia Online. We know them well but being based in Dalmatia, we go there less frequently but for greater lengths of time - when we cover them it’s normally en bloc!

Readers with long memories will remember we spent Christmas 2006 in inland Istria. There are so many gems, here and on the coast, that it’s difficult to pick favourites, but Labin was one of them. It lies just inland from Rabac, which is on the east coast of the Istrian peninsula, looking over Kvarner Bay. Labin itself is a medieval town on top of a hill and has a colourful history. It’s a great place to visit all year round, but it comes alive in the summer festival period to become, what the Croatian Tourist Board describes as, the Labin Art Republic.

Most Croatian towns have a festival to offer in July and August but Labin’s is a little different in a number of ways, and one of the highlights is the Visual Theatre Festival. Natasha Stanic, a visual theatre artist herself, is the organiser and visionary behind the concept, and she told us a little more about it: “Visual Theatre Festival Labin hosts theatre works in which the visual aspect of theatre has been emphasized, and in which the body speaks as eloquently as the voice. Every year at the beginning of August, Labin's Old Town becomes the inspiration for artists to transform areas into numerous site-specific theatre spaces. Our vision was to create an event where visitors can indulge themselves in contemporary visual theatre performances in the magical atmosphere of the medieval town of Labin.”

This year the Visual Theatre Festival takes place on the 7th, 8th and 9th August and there should shortly be a dedicated website to tell you more about it. As soon as it’s ready we’ll let you know.

In the meantime, for more information on Labin and Rabac, follow this link to the Tourist Board Site, and for more information on the vast number of summer festivals around Croatia, and other events, click here.

Many thanks to Natasha Stanic for today’s photo taken at last year’s festival.