The Dance and Non-Verbal Theatre Festival is a unique cultural event, organised by the Zagreb Dance Company, which has shown itself to be a favourite gathering of dance experts and lovers of the art of dance, who come explicitly for the festival’s international programme consisting of modern dance, physical theatre, pantomimes, circus arts, street theatre, and educational seminars and workshops. The festival was founded in 2000, and has up till now hosted more than 150 Croatian and foreign dance and theatre companies with over 200 performances. It has also developed a close cooperation with the local community and initiated the opening of the Mediterranean Dance Centre, which has a lot of visitors and has become an inevitable part of the cultural offerings of the County and the entire country.

For more than 17 years, the Festival has been accomplishing its main objectives: to present recent foreign and Croatian accomplishments in dance, educate new generations of audience, promote intercultural dialogue and transnational mobility, participate in building an active, democratic, and culturally educated society, encourage creativity, ideas, and attitudes, and solidarity between artists and the audience, with all visitors – local and foreign tourists, the Municipality and County residents, and experts and lovers of the art of dance, benefiting continually from the event. The growing number of visitors but also the growing reputation of the Festival is also proof of the festival’s success.

Among the multitude of cultural events being held in Istria during summer months, the Dance and Non-Verbal Theatre Festival is especially prominent. It has rejuvenated the dance scene and sped up its decentralisation, and has become a well-known brand that epitomises the world of dance.

The Ministry of Culture has nominated the Dance and Non-Verbal Theatre Festival as the only Croatian candidate for the “Council of Europe Cultural Events”.

Furthermore, the Croatian Dancers Association presented the Festival in 2009 with the annual award for its contribution to the art of dance, and the Istria Tourist Board gave it the award “GOLDEN GOAT – CAPRA D’ORO”. The Festival attracts a large number of visitors, both tourists and locals, and those who travel specifically to attend the Festival from all parts of Croatia as well as neighbouring countries. The importance of the festival was also recognised by many cultural institutions such as the Austrian Cultural Forum, French Cultural Institute, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, French Institute, Goethe Institute, and others.