Rabac/Istria Labinske konti

Traditional Labin folk event

Istria gave the world the famous Istrian musical scale, demonstrating the especially rich spiritual culture of our largest peninsula. It has been suggested that the Istrian scale should be included on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The Balun is the most common Istrian dance and is characterised by minute hops and interesting turns. The dance is accompanied by music played on traditional instruments such as mih (pipes) and šurle (zurle). The Balun is a dance performed by pairs dancing in a circle and revolving in the same way as the Earth revolves round the Sun. It is not known when this dance came into existence but it was probably the result of couples who were in love wanting physical closeness, and is danced in such a way that the man and the woman are almost glued to each other.

The Istrian scale and the Balun dance can be experienced at an event called Labinski konti.