Bodrog Festival (Bački Monoštor)
Every year since 2005, on the second weekend of August, a festival of culture and tradition is held at Bački Monoštor, a village on the far northwest of Vojvodina region, near Sombor. It promotes the cultural heritage and the natural riches of the Gornje Podunavlje region, a newly proclaimed UNESCO reservate, through ecological awarenes, old crafts, domestic products and cuisine, beverages, customs, traditional garments, song and dance and displays all the region has to offer to tourists who want to enjoy authentic experience of living in harmony with the untouched nature.
BEAN Festival (Temerin)
This gastronomic, cultural and entertaining manifestation is a special kind of culinary Olympics – it is a bean soup cooking competition! It attracts participants from all over Vojvodina and beyond, and also stages the traditional marketplace, wine exposition, flower arrangements, the “Sweet Street”, traditional sports games and dance, while also hosting a diverse musical program with moderate emphasis on traditional music, always accompanied by ecological motifs.
Belgrade Ship Carnival
Every year, Belgrade Ship Carnival is organized on the river Sava quay promenade. Beside the water activities such as jet skiing, and the main event that is the ship parade which welcomes all ship owners of Belgrade, there’s also a fulfilled schedule on the quay, aimed mainly on kids and families. There’s a ‘’Pirate corner’’ for kids to enjoy while making pirate masks, hats and model ships, and of course the musical program on the stage including ballet ensembles, children’s choir and pop/rock concerts!
Dani Jorgovana – Days of Lilac (Kraljevo)
Organized by the St. Helen of Anjou association, in memory of the XIII century Serbian queen St. Helen, Days of Lilac are a cultural event which gives you the opportunity to acquaint with the Serbian religion, history and tradition. It is a full day excursion that starts early morning at the St. Sava Temple in Kraljevo, then proceeds with the pilgrimages to the Gradac monastery and ancient city of Maglič – with respective art exhibitions and history classes at each destination, and it all concludes back at the St. Sava Square in Kraljevo, in an evening of cultural and arts programme.
Winterfest (Novi Sad)
From mid-november towards the end of the year, Novi Sad offers the best Christmas Market in Serbia! The program includes children’s choirs singing Christmas carols, Food & Wine Square, photography and museum exhibitions, Christmas chariot ride, music concerts on weekend evenings, there’s also a pet friendly area, so there are many ways to enjoy yourself, while also supporting several charitable projects organized by the city along with the festivities.
Dani ludaje – Pumpkin Days (Kikinda)
This festival is dedicated to pumpkins! It opens with “pumpkin games” – pumpkin-themed sports contests for the youngest participants, continues the next day with carnival of around 500 local kids dressed in costumes, and on the third day, the main event: pumpkin growing competition with farmers from different parts of the country measuring up for the heaviest and the longest pumpkin! Add to that the delicious local foods, rich musical program, and many other workshops and activities that use the pumpkin as the theme or a material, and you get the ultimate pumpkin experience!
The Night of Museums (Belgrade; nation-wide)
Synchronized with this relatively young but intriguing European tradition, the Night of Museums takes place in more than 40 Serbian cities and towns, with Belgrade arguably boasting the richest programme. People can visit all the museums and enjoy especially prepared exhibitions for the night, while museums stay open from 17h to 01h after midnight, showing themselves in best light to the audience, and also to potential patrons.
Nušićijada (Ivanjica)
Bearing the name of the most famous Serbian comedy playwright, Branislav Nušić, who often used the punchline “You’re bound for Ivanjica!!!” that humorously inspired the location choice for the festival, it began as a celebration of domestic comedy cinema in 1968, but only lasted until 1972. Resurrected in 2010. by a petition and further involvement from town leadership, Nušićijada returns the town of Ivanjica to “Old Town” period, and offers a plethora of events: cinema and theatre pieces, fun and educational workshops for kids, re-imagining famous scenes from Serbian comedy, and many more.
BELEF (Belgrade)
Belgrade Summer Festival offers diverse cultural and arts content on various locations and cultural institutions of importance for the capitol. It showcases music concerts, dance ensembles, art exhibitions, fashion shows, children’s fun & educational workshops and theatre plays, bringing you domestic artists as well as the globally acclaimed ones, of the likes of Femi Kuti and Tino Favazza. There are always rarely seen and unique art creations in the mix so prepare to be surprised.
BITEF (Belgrade)
With more than five decades of tradition, the Belgrade International Theatre Festival brings to you both the new theatre trends and ultimate theatre values – the experimental form as much as the classic achievements. Programme is split to multiple theaters but with the centre being the BITEF theater, established in the reconstructed evangelist church in Old Town part of Belgrade, this festival one of the oldest and most important annual cultural events in Belgrade.
Radost Evrope – The Joy of Europe (Belgrade)
Subtitled the “international meeting of children of Europe”, the Joy of Europe is a manifestation of international and multicultural character – every year children of Belgrade show their hospitality to hundreds of children from many different countries, who bring with them the sound, motion, pictures, customs of their homelands, and many skills, which they share with us on Belgrade streets, squares and theater halls during the festival. While there are many entertaining accompanying events also on the schedule, the most important message of this festival is friendship, understanding other people and different cultures.
Smederevska Jesen (Smederevo)
Every autumn, Smederevo arranges an agricultural fair in celebration and gratefulness for the delicious grapes and wines of Smederevan wineyards! Believe it or not, first manifestation of this kind in Smederevo was held in XIX century, in 1888. The program’s aim is to display the quality local products – primarily the grape exhibition and winemakers’ selection, but also much more, while the event also includes cultural, sports, and entertainment sections.
Kočićevi Dani (Čelarevo)
This festival is of particular importance to Bosnian Serbs, it celebrates the memory of Petar Kočić, a Bosnian Serb writer, and also the colonization of Bačka Palanka area by Bosnian Serbs seven decades ago. The program consists of literary part, and a part dedicated to traditional folklore music and dances, with many cultural arts associations participating and making this an authentic ethno experience.
Apatinske Ribarske Večeri – Apatin Fisherman’s Evenings (Apatin)
This festival offers a fullfiled music schedule with leading domestic artists, while not neglecting the traditional aspect , with many singing and dancing traditional folk ensembles participating. The leitmotif of the festival is fishing – and the main event is the fisherman’s stew cooking competition. To make a break between enjoying the great food, music and learning about tradition, visitors can also take a sightseeing tour in a horse-drawn carriage.
Uskršnji Etno Festival – Easter Ethno Festival (Požarevac)
City of Požarevac worked to make one of the two most important Christian holidays a real festivity for the city – every Easter, people gather to celebrate the old customs, by preparing traditional dishes, showcasing performances from folklore ensembles, performances by guests from other countries, and the unforgettable Easter egg tapping competition. After enjoying some of the locals’ specialties, visitors can join the locals and make a pilgrimage to the Sestroljin monastery.
Prvomajski Uranak (Palić)
Prvomajski Uranak is the event that marks the opening of the summer season on Palić Lake, a beautiful lake in the northernmost part of the country. It’s a tourist manifestation that transforms the town of Palić into one big amusement park, food square and handicraft bazaar, while diverse cultural and entertainment programs and music concerts attract large number of attendants.
Prolećni Festival Vina – Springtime Festival of Wine (Sremski Karlovci)
Springtime Festival of Wine is a three-day manifestation with rich program content: cultural and arts program on the stage, kids workshops, town sightseeing, “open doors” day for all cultural and religious institutions, and promotion of local products. The goal of the town is to become the capitol for regional wine tourism, with the famous bernet wine being an instantly recognizable brand of the destination.
Inernational Carnival (Pančevo)
International Carnival in Pančevo is one of the most important and most developed carnival manifestations in Serbia. Tradition of organizing carnivals in Pančevo dates from the XIX century, but the carnival in this iteration has been held regularly since 2004. It didn’t take long for the carnival to become the most important event for the city, with visitors from other countries creating a great synthesis of different carnival traditions and flavours.
Vrnjački Karneval (Vrnjačka Banja)
With average attendance of 200.000, Vrnjački Karneval is surely the biggest carnival manifestation in Serbia. During one week in july, whole Vrnjačka Banja becomes a great scene where many activities take place, including, but not limited to: costume-ball, exhibitions, concerts, theatre plays and sports events, and the main event is the huge international carnival procession across the beautiful Vrnjačka Banja!
Pudarski dani – Winekeeper’s Days (Irig)
This festival is dedicated to all who guard and nutrture the vineyard, the grapes, the wine and developing the viticulture. Some of the interesting events organized during the festival are grape harvest, pumpkin lantern parade and a costume ball, children’s market and exhibition sale of Syrmian pastry, exhibitions of grape-themed literary and painted works, and numerous contests – for the best vineyard, best wine cellar, best rakija and wine, heaviest grapes, chicken stew contest, and many more!