Zagreb Design Week

What Zagreb Design Week does

Zagreb Design Week is an annual citywide design festival founded in 2014 and operated as a private organization headquartered in Zagreb, Croatia. The festival runs over a two-week period each September, activating dozens of partner locations across the city during the first week and consolidating main exhibitions, workshops, the ZGDW AWARD ceremony, fashion shows, market, and food design programming at a central venue (the Academy of Fine Arts at Ilica 85) during the second week. It serves professional designers, design studios, emerging creatives, design students, cultural institutions, fashion designers, food designers, and the design-interested general public across nine program categories covering graphic, digital and interaction, product, interior, textile and fashion, and social innovation design.

The festival's underlying technology is a lightweight festival organization platform centered on a multi-session online open-call application system that allows participants to submit applications across the nine programs within 10-day windows. The technology layer is not proprietary in any differentiated AI or software sense; instead, value is created through program design, curation, jury composition for the six-category ZGDW AWARD, and the curated annual theme (2026: 'Friction' / Trenje).

Zagreb Design Week monetizes through multiple streams: participant and vendor fees (Market stalls, Studio Space, Fashion Shows, Workshops), Partner Location program fees, and public-sector sponsorship and grants from Grad Zagreb, Zagreb Tourist Board (TZGZ), and the Croatian Ministry of Culture. The festival also derives brand value from membership in the World Design Weeks international network. It attracts over 25,000 visitors annually and is positioned as Croatia's largest design festival and one of the leading design events in South-East Europe.

Name

Zagreb Design Week

Legal name

Zagreb Design Week

Website

https://zagrebdesignweek.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zagreb Design Week is Croatia's largest design festival, running an annual two-week citywide programme of exhibitions, workshops, awards, and a market across nine design disciplines, serving designers, students, brands, and the public in Zagreb since 2014.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Design Festival and Cultural Events

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cultural & Community Festivals (Ticketed) (THAJAFAI), Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Fan Conventions Organizers (THAHABAN)

Keywords

• Design festival
• Cultural events
• Design exhibitions
• Design competitions
• Creative industries events

Headquarters

HQ city

Zagreb

HQ country

Croatia

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Festival Attendance and Ticket Revenue: The festival attracts over 25,000 visitors annually, generating revenue through ticket sales, entry fees, and visitor spending on market vendors, food, and beverages at the festival venue.
2. Market Vendor Fees: Designers and studios pay to participate in the ZGDW Market, a pop-up retail space featuring approximately twenty brands selling products ranging from fashion and jewellery to home goods and stationery.
3. Partner Location Programme: Partner locations (shops, galleries, studios) pay to participate in the festival network, receiving support in concept development, organisation, and promotion.
4. Exhibition and Studio Space Fees: Studios, collectives, and designers pay to exhibit in Studio Space programme, receiving dedicated space for portfolio or project presentation at the central venue.
5. Corporate Sponsorships: The festival is supported by institutional partners including Scuderia Zagreb, Grad Zagreb, Zagreb Tourist Board (TZGZ), and Ministry of Culture, indicating public sector sponsorship revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Zagreb Design Week is Croatia's largest annual design festival, held over two weeks across the city of Zagreb. The festival delivers nine distinct programmes — ZGDW AWARD (an international design competition across six disciplines), Partner Locations, Universities and Schools Exhibition, Studio Space, Installations/Spatial Interventions, Fashion Shows, Market, Food Design, and Workshops — serving designers, studios, brands, students, cultural institutions, and the general public.

Product overview

Zagreb Design Week is Croatia's largest design festival, held annually as a citywide event that transforms Zagreb into a center of design for two weeks. The festival was founded in 2014 and gathers more than 25,000 visitors each year. The festival's offerings are organized as a multi-program platform with nine distinct programs: ZGDW AWARD (international design competition), Partner Locations (first week city-wide activations), Universities and Schools Exhibition, Studio Space, Installations/Spatial Interventions, Fashion Shows, Market, Food Design, and Workshops. Each edition is shaped around a central theme, with the 2026 edition titled 'Friction' exploring conflict, rupture, and decision-making in the creative process.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ZGDW AWARD International design award competition presented annually by Zagreb Design Week. An international jury selects the three best projects in each of six design disciplines, providing professional recognition to designers from Croatia and abroad.
• Partner Locations Program First-week programme in which dozens of shops, galleries, and studios across Zagreb open their doors and host specially designed programming including designer meetups, new collection presentations, and cocktail parties.
• Universities and Schools Exhibition Exhibition bringing together universities and schools presenting diverse approaches, methodologies, and styles within the design education system, aimed at promoting Croatian design and emerging creatives.
• Studio Space Programme inviting design studios, collectives, and independent designers to participate through their own mini-exhibitions, with each exhibitor provided dedicated space and complete freedom to present projects, creative process, and work methodology at the central venue.
• Installations/Spatial Interventions Programme inviting designers, artists, and creatives to submit proposals for installations or spatial interventions, using the garden and interiors of the Academy of Fine Arts as a unique setting to create memorable experiences for visitors.
• Fashion Shows Platform promoting young fashion designers, providing the opportunity to present collections to a wide audience, connecting students and young creators with the professional community and potential clients and collaborators.
• ZGDW Market Festival market bringing together approximately twenty designers and brands who exhibit and sell their products — fashion, jewellery, notebooks, and home decor items — with many manufacturers choosing ZGDW for their Croatian market premiere.
• Food Design Programme promoting food design at the intersection of food and design, encompassing research-led and conceptual projects as well as those rooted in everyday practice, promoting Croatian gastronomic culture through a design lens.
• Workshops Programme where knowledge becomes experience and the audience becomes active participants, accepting workshop proposals from all areas of design: graphic, fashion, product, and interdisciplinary formats combining design with other disciplines.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 25,000 visitors annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Scuderia ZagrebcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Scuderia Zagreb serves as the organisational home and office location for Zagreb Design Week. As the primary organisational partner, Scuderia Zagreb provides venue infrastructure and institutional support for the festival's operations and headquarters.
• Grad Zagreb (City of Zagreb)flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2014The City of Zagreb is a key institutional partner providing municipal support and official recognition. The city's backing enhances the festival's credibility and provides access to public resources and promotion through official city channels.
• TZGZ (Turistička zajednica Grada Zagreba / Zagreb Tourist Board)flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2014The Zagreb Tourist Board provides tourism promotion support, helping position the festival as a destination for design tourism and contributing to visitor attraction efforts.
• Ministarstvo kulture (Ministry of Culture)flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2014The Croatian Ministry of Culture provides national-level institutional support and cultural funding, lending official government recognition to the festival's cultural programming.
• World Design WeekscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014World Design Weeks is an international network of design festivals. Membership provides Zagreb Design Week with international visibility, cross-promotion with other member design weeks, and participation in global design community exchanges.
• Academy of Fine Arts ZagrebflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014The Academy of Fine Arts (ALU) at Ilica 85 serves as the central venue for ZGDW's second week. The academy's studios become exhibition spaces and its garden hosts installations, workshops, lectures, and concerts. This partnership provides the festival with prestigious educational infrastructure.
• Partner Locations (Galleries, Studios, Shops)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2014Partner locations include shops, galleries, and studios throughout Zagreb that host design events during week one of the festival. Partners receive support in concept development, organisation, and promotion, becoming equal participants in the festival through their own programme contributions.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Barcelona Design Week: Annual citywide design festival in Barcelona covering product, fashion, graphic, and digital design across multiple venues, with institutional support from the city — a comparable Mediterranean regional design week.
• Helsinki Design Week: Finland's largest design festival, operating a multi-venue citywide model across Helsinki with comparable scale (~30K+ visitors), multidisciplinary design programming, and government/municipal backing — closely aligned with ZGDW's positioning.
• Vienna Design Week: Annual multidisciplinary design festival in Vienna, Austria — the closest geographic and structural peer to ZGDW, with a similar citywide, multi-venue format activating partner locations across the host city.
• Dutch Design Week: Largest design event in Northern Europe held annually in Eindhoven with a multi-venue, multidisciplinary citywide format covering product, graphic, digital, and social innovation design — a higher-scale but structurally comparable design week.
• Prague Design Week: Czech annual design festival held in Prague across galleries, studios, and design venues, focusing on multidisciplinary contemporary design — another Central European citywide design week with comparable scope.
• Budapest Design Week: Annual design festival in Budapest, Hungary covering product, graphic, fashion, and industrial design across multiple venues in the host city — a Central European peer of similar scope and regional positioning to ZGDW.
• Berlin Design Week: Annual multidisciplinary design festival in Berlin operating across multiple showrooms, galleries, and studios citywide — a comparable multi-venue citywide design week in a European capital.
• Lisbon Design Week: Annual design festival in Lisbon covering product, graphic, fashion, and social innovation design across the city's cultural venues — another Southern European citywide design week at a similar regional scale to ZGDW.

Broad incumbents

• London Design Festival: One of the world's largest design festivals, held across multiple London venues with global designer participation and major institutional sponsors — a much larger incumbent operating the same citywide, multi-venue concept.
• Salone del Mobile / Milan Design Week: The global benchmark for design weeks, held annually in Milan with Salone del Mobile at its core and Fuorisalone activations citywide — the largest and most established design festival globally, comparable in concept but vastly larger in scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/zagrebdesignweek
• Xx.com/ZGdesignweek
• Facebookfacebook.com/zagrebdesignweek
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zagrebdesignweek

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zagreb Design Week