On 21 July 1364 the town council of Rab decided to honour King Louis I of Hungary and Croatia, who had taken the island from Venice, with an annual fair around the feasts of St James, St Anne and St Christopher, the town’s patron; the celebrations once lasted two weeks and ended with a crossbow tournament. The knights’ games were revived in 1995 with the founding of the Rab Crossbowmen Association, and in 2002 the town re-established the whole fair as the Rapska fjera, now billed as the oldest and largest medieval summer festival in Croatia. It is organised by the Town of Rab, the Pučko otvoreno učilište Rab and the Rab Tourist Board.
For three days the stone streets of the old town become workshops and stalls: belt-makers, herbal cosmetics, hair ornaments, pottery, coin-striking, basket weaving, carpentry and stone carving, with a gallery recreating medieval household work such as wool preparation, weaving, grinding grain and baking bread. A fishermen’s village is built on the town beach, and the evenings bring music, wine and local food (fried šulčići, grilled tuna, fritule doughnuts and the spiral Rapska torta). Costumed townspeople, visiting historical groups and drummers move through the lanes.
The climax is 27 July, St Christopher’s Day: a procession with the saint’s relics and a solemn mass, the crossbowmen’s tournament on St Christopher’s Square, a costumed parade, a pyromusical fireworks display over the harbour and a closing concert. The 25th edition in 2026 hosted the historical group Arti e mestieri from Montegiardino and crossbowmen from the Federazione Balestrieri di San Marino, and closed with a concert by Gipsy Kings by Andre Reyes.
The programme takes place in public streets, squares and the port, and the organisers publish no entry ticket; food, crafts and some workshops are paid. Rab is reached by ferry from Stinica on the mainland (Mišnjak landing, about 15 minutes) or by catamaran from Rijeka; late July is peak season, so book accommodation well ahead.
