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This oldest summer festival in the Kvarner region dates back to the early 1990s, 1992 to be exact. It was then that a group of enthusiasts, led by Milivoj Jelovica who today is honorary president of the Society, organized the first Summer, which included a drama programme by local playwrights and performers. The excellent public reception led to the organization of a larger festival the following year and, since “three’s a charm”, in 1994, the programme was further expanded to include drama, art and exhibits and classical and popular music. From year to year, the content, quality and quantity of the summer festival keeps growing and growing and, with the participation of numerous foreign performers, the festival has taken on an international character. To date, excellent artists have come from all over the world: Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Holland, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, United States and the United Kingdom.

The international character of the festival was certainly confirmed and enriched in more ways than one with the introduction of the Guitar Festival in 1997. Under the art direction of Darko Konofski, today this festival is known and recognized in European and world guitar circles. In the eleven years since its inception in Kastav, some of the world’s best known names in guitar from all over the globe have performed: Renato Rožić, Martin Taylor, Neal Stacey, Michael Koschoreck, Antal Pustzai, Bob Brozman, Alvaro Pierri, Monica Salmaso & Paulo Bellinati, Ratko Zjača kvartet, Duo Kaltchev & Claudia Buder, Augustin de la Fuente & flamenco ensemble, Leono Moro, Margarita Escarpa, Martin Gjakonovski, Paul Shigihara, Uwe Kopinski, Michael Sagmeister, Aniello Desiderio and many, many others. The 11th edition of the festival was held in 2007.

Alongside the guitar festival, which today bears the name Triglav International Guitar Festival, the Čansonfest-Festival of Chakavian Chansons, first held in 2005, has taken its rightful place within the Kastav Cultural Summer. The affirmation of putting the Chakavian dialect to music has received strong promotion through this festival and in 2006, a Competition for new compositions in the spirit of Chakavian chansons was opened. With the participation of many famous names in the Kvarner and Istria regions, the Festival has retained a conceptually strong “local character”.
In 2006, the Kastav Cultural Summer Society organized the Chamber Music&Comedy Festival, a co-production with the Music&Comedy Company from Vienna. Skilled musicians from European cities, including Aleksey Igudesman, Richard Hyung-ki Yoo, Rebecca Carrington, Thomas Caroll and Croatian musician Monika Leskovar presented a repertoire of Brahms, Schuman, Schubert and Mozart in the first part of the festival. In the second part, talented artists performed classical music in the form of musical comedy, making this the premier festival combining classical music and elements of musical comedy in Kastav.
Over the years, the exhibition programme has been held in the Vincent Gallery and the Chapel of the Holy Trinity. Since 2005, this programme exhibit pieces selected by curator Višnja Slavica Gabout has been held in the Gallery of the Chapel of the Holy Trinity. This is further affirmed the structure itself, which is a valuable cultural monument.
The venue for the classical music programme is the parish Church of St. Helena. The Lokvina and Crekvina squares, once centres of town life, have become open-air stages for numerous well known and recognized dramatic artists and performances from various genres of popular, ethnic and folklore music.
The importance of this cultural project for the cultural and economic development of the Kastav area has also been recognized by the local economy. In addition to the regular sponsors, the Town of Kastav, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and the Ministry of Culture, and the loyal public, private sector sponsors form the third important column supporting the success of this Society and the summer festival itself.
In addition to organizing the summer festival, the Society works towards protecting the local identity and promoting the cultural and historical heritage of Kastav. For many year, it has organized the project “Kastav - museum town”, in which old crafts and trades stemming from the trade school that once operated in Kastav are being restored. The aim of the project is to present the former trades, workshops and crafts in the form of a museum collection. Tourism, museum and cultural institutions are working together in the creation and realization of this project. To date, the barrel-making and coppersmith’s collections have been restored, and the restoration and adaptation of the baker’s collection is underway. Plans are in place to begin the restoration of the blacksmith’s and other trades. Alongside the permanent collection of the Kastav Museum, these planned collections represent valuable and unique cultural, historical and tourism heritage in Kastav.

The Primorje-Gorski Kotor County Tourist Board has recognized the significant efforts of the Society. In cooperation with Primorski Radio, the Tourist Board has organized the campaign “One step from the sea, two from the mountains” and in 2005, awarded three golden plaques to the Society and the Town of Kastav, for its cultural events, for the best arranged museum collection and for the best souvenir.
The tourism validation of cultural projects and the contribution of cultural projects to reviving economic development, in particular the service sector, was one of the main motives for the organization of the festival and other projects. The accomplishments and results were best seen in June 2005, when the Croatian National Tourist Board awarded the Society with the Anton Štifanić award for exceptional contributions to tourism in Croatia.
In the 2007 campaign by the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and Primorski Radio, Kastav Cultural Summer received the award for Best Cultural Content.
In 2007, the Town of Kastav Award was granted to the Kastav Cultural Summer Society for its contributions to the development of culture and promotion of the Town of Kastav in the country and abroad.