Summer Sensual Days – One Week Kizomba in Rovinj

Last year, I had already heard many Kizomba dancers raving: The festival in Rovinj Summer Sensual Days is so wonderful. Dancing at the beach, a week of parties and workshops in a breathtaking holiday destination in northern Croatia.

I needed to check this out myself!

Summer Sensual Days – How to Get There?

Rovinj is located on the Pula peninsula, which is also the name of the airport you should fly into. Alternatively, you can also fly to Rijeka, Ljubljana, Trieste or even Treviso (like me), but if you like it as comfortable as possible, then Pula is the right place to go. And since you have a week of dancing ahead of you, that’s not a bad decision. You don’t want to arrive and have to recover from the exertions of your journey, do you?

Otherwise, some dancers arrive with their own car or motorbike. That was actually my plan: I wanted to come with a friend and dance partner from Frankfurt to Rovinj on two wheels. A few days before we hit the road though, I had to change my plans because of a family matter and so I flew to Treviso, where my friend picked me up. Read all about our road trip here: Motorcycle tour through Croatia. There are buses from Venice to Rovinj, but not from Venice/Treviso airport.

And last but not least, there are long-distance buses to Rovinj. From Frankfurt, there are even three buses a day, two of them with a layover in Munich and one with a layover in Ljubljana.

Summer Sensual Days – The Festival

All in all, you could dance here for almost three weeks at a time. The festival starts before Rovinj – in nearby Opatja. The master classes also took place there. This year the Kizomba Masterclass was conducted by Albir. On the fourth day, a free shuttle bus takes the participants to Rovinj, where they can continue dancing almost right away.

Dancing at Mulini Beach

Although there is no official party on this very first evening in Rovinj, you can already dance at Mulini Beach, for example. Private social events take place there throughout the whole week. I never went to the official ones at Paradise Beach and the Armarin Beach Resort because I liked Mulini Beach so much and I heard from many dancers that this is the best social of all.

And that’s what it looks like: Around 2 pm the first Kizombeiros with speakers show up and start dancing. This goes on until the last one with a speaker has left. That’s usually not before 10 pm. This is also a perfect time for all sunset enthusiasts who want to dance romantically at dusk.

The Workshops

During the day – usually between 12 pm and 6 pm – the workshops take place. I didn’t have a workshop pass at this festival, so I had to forego the workshops. But next year, I definitely want to be there and take advantage of the entire programme. Preferably with the X-Treme Pass, which includes all workshops and parties of the Summer Sensual Days and the subsequent Croation Salsa and Sensual Festival. Most of the workshops and evening parties take place in the ADRIS Hall, an old tobacco factory.

The Parties

From 10:30 pm, you can conquer the dance floor of the factory. On a total of four floors, you can simply choose your favorite music and turn the night into day. There are two Kizomba floors (one Kizomba / Semba and one Urban Kiz / Tarraxa Floor), a Bachata and a Salsa Floor. Originally, the two Kizomba floors were next to each other, so that you could easily switch between the dance floors when the music on the other side was better. After a storm, however, one area was no longer accessible, so that the floors were unfortunately placed in two different buildings. To be honest, I only got to know one room: the Urban / Tarraxa Floor. My friend and dance partner, however, danced almost exclusively on the Kizomba floor and was also very enthusiastic.

On Mondays and Tuesdays before the evening parties, there is a mixed open-air party (Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba) on a square in the old town from 8 pm. The ground is not ideal (paving stones) but the atmosphere makes up for that.

But the most beautiful official party (or at least I let myself be told) is the Moonlight Party on the island Katarina off Rovinj. There are 2 dance floors – Bachata and Kizomba, one around the pool area of the hotel, the other a little off but directly at the sea. However, this party cannot be booked separately. It is only included in special passes (X-Treme -, Freak- and Cool-Pass).

Boat Parties

Besides the social events and parties, there are also the boat tours. These are not included in any of the passes and are also more fun dancing than real Kizomba and Bachata. The music on the Kizomba Boat was in my opinion 60 percent Afro House and hardly real Kizomba. Nevertheless, it was fun and the view of Rovinj is just awesome!

The Passes

In 2018, there were many different passes and it was not exactly clear and easy to understand. Currently there are only two different passes available for 2019.

Either for Rovinj:

Freak Pass – 5 Days of Workshops and 7 Parties

Full Pass – 3 Days of Workshops and 7 Parties

Or for Opatja and Rovinj:

Freak Pass – 8 Days of Workshops and 13 Parties

Full Pass – 6 Workshops and 13 Parties

Technically, there should also be the:

X-Treme Pass – 10 Days of Workshops and 14 Parties

If you are interested in one of the two festivals or just want to visit the beautiful town of Rovinj, here are some practical tips: Rovinj – A picturesque town in Istria.