A record attempt with a very specific skill set is coming to Istria. On 16 October 2026, the small town of Tinjan will try to set a Guinness World Record for the most people slicing cured meat at the same time, with a target of 300 participants all carving pršut simultaneously.
The current benchmark belongs to Torrijos in Spain, where 205 people took part in October 2018. Tinjan plans to beat that comfortably, and it has chosen a fitting stage: the attempt falls on the opening morning of ISAP 2026, the town's International Pršut Fair, a yearly gathering that has become the main showcase for Istria's cured-meat producers. The knife work kicks off at 10am, with a rehearsal scheduled the evening before.
The rules are stricter than you might expect. Each participant gets two minutes to cut at least five slices, and every slice has to measure between 0.5 and 1.5 millimetres thick. One botched individual attempt can invalidate the whole record, so organisers are only accepting people who already know their way around a pršut knife — professionals and experienced home slicers alike. There's no set length for each slice, but thickness will be judged.
Taking part costs nothing, but places are capped at exactly 300. Anyone accepted gets a QR code needed to enter the official record zone, plus a commemorative apron and medal. Those who successfully complete their two minutes could walk away with a personalised Guinness World Records certificate — a decent souvenir even by Istrian standards.
For organisers, the attempt is as much about visibility as glory. Tinjan has been tied to Istria's pršut tradition for generations, and the fair already draws producers and food lovers from across the region. A Guinness bid gives the town a headline that travels well beyond the peninsula, part of a broader playbook where destinations lean on food heritage to pull in international visitors. For travellers, it means a genuinely fun reason to be in inland Istria in mid-October: a morning of razor-thin ham, a fair full of producers to taste from, and the chance to watch — or join — a piece of record history.
Whether you fancy your slicing skills or just want to eat well, Tinjan in October is shaping up as one of the more characterful food events on the Adriatic calendar.
