The traditional 311th Sinjska alka gathered thousands of visitors and the entire state leadership, and besides the knightly competition and Tin Radanović's victory, Sinj was also a fashion stage where the women of Sinj shone in airy outfits with the inevitable lace.
Tin Radanović is the winner of the 311th Sinjska alka with 12 punata, a score that echoed from the Alkarsko trkalište on Monday, August 10, 2026, before thousands of visitors and the entire state leadership. The patron of the Alka, President of the Republic Zoran Milanović, Speaker of Parliament Gordan Jandroković, and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković followed the traditional knightly competition that turned Sinj, at least for a day, into the center of Croatian tradition, culture, and unity.
Congratulations to the winner came from the highest office. "In Sinj, we attended the 311th Sinjska alka. Heartfelt congratulations to this year's winner, Tin Radanović, on his excellent performance and victory with 12 punata," Plenković wrote on platform X, and the government in a separate post thanked the Sinj Knightly Alka Society for yet another excellently organized Alka. They also said they would continue to strongly support its promotion and the activities of the VAD Sinj, while the Prime Minister emphasized that the Alka "for more than three centuries has preserved the tradition, culture, and identity of the Cetina region and strongly testifies to the richness of Croatian heritage."
This year, the Alka was again a kind of fashion runway where, alongside neutral and airy shades, lace creations dominated. "I'm wearing lace today. After all, it's the Alka, lace simply has to be part of this story," one of the two sisters wearing creations from their mother's boutique in the center of Sinj told Slobodna Dalmacija, and the other added: "My sister and I are actually advertising our mom! She has a boutique right here in the center of Sinj, so it was natural for us to wear her things."
However, the most attention at Čoja was drawn by an attractive dark-haired girl in a striking black-and-white outfit, a short tie-up top and high-waisted shorts, which, according to research by the Index portal, turned out to be a piece from the Shein platform costing only 15.34 euros. The discovery immediately sparked an online debate: some praised her style and the proof that you don't need a lot of money for a great look, while others opened the eternal debate about "fast fashion."
The day before the Alka celebration, on August 9, Prime Minister Plenković also announced a concrete economic measure for citizens. "As for fuel, we have good news. After receiving updated data this morning, we decided to change the methodology, and the Croatian Government will now react on a weekly basis instead of biweekly," he posted on X, announcing a government session where prices would be lower for all five energy products. Eurosuper will drop by 6 euro cents per liter, eurodiesel by 4, blue diesel by 3, and gas in tanks and bottles by 8 euro cents, a move that, as he said, will "immediately benefit our citizens and the economy."
