Jakovlja, Saint Jacob’s festival, in Kanfanar is one of the oldest historical trade fairs in Istria and it was first mentioned in the 14th century in "The Istrian Book of Boundaries" where it was written that every July 25th, during the break between the crop harvesting and the grape harvesting, near the church of Saint Jacob (just a little west of the church of Saint Agatha) a large fair took place. The people of Dvigrad and Žminj participated in the fair in such way that the each of them remained on their side of the fair without mixing. After the destruction of Dvigrad in the 18th century the traditional celebration of Saint Jacob (patron saint of veterinarians, pharmacists, horse breeders, tanners and furriers) moved to Kanfanar. The traditional fair was held for centuries, until the early '50s of the twentieth century, when the communist government banned it for about forty years. On the initiative of cousins Ivan and Anton Meden, Jakovlja was organised again in 1991 but now with a new attraction in the programme - the exhibition of Istrian oxen.

Since then Kanfanar and Jakovlja gather every year the breeders of Istrian oxen and encourage them to preserve this precious native breed which is threatened by extinction