This lancing tournament is held annually in August in Sinj, about 30 kilometres inland from the southern coastal city of Split. It has become a must-see event that attracts many tourists in seaside resorts in high season, and politicians, state officials, public figures occupy the first rows of the stands during the final day of the tournament.
The Sinjska Alka tournament was inscribed on UNESCO's world intangible cultural heritage list in 2010.
The tournament commemorates a victory by 700 Croatian defenders of Sinj, about 30 kilometres inland from the southern coastal city of Split, against 60,000 Ottoman soldiers under Serasker Mehmed Pasha Celic on August 14, 1715.
The final of this three-day competition is held on the first Sunday in August. The event features period-clad horsemen riding at full gallop and aiming their lances at an iron ring, called the alka, which is suspended from a rope above the race track.