Fun and festivities in Bosnia & Herzegovina - celebrations, festivals and cultural events

A variety of festivals for every taste are held in Bosnia and Herzegovina every year. One of them is OK Fest taking place in the Sutjeske National Park in Tjentište. It's not just a music festival in early July - here you can swim in a large outdoor pool, go rafting and other sports, and watch movies.

Blues & Rock Festival is held in Mostar in hot July since 2003 - the year of Blues when this musical genre turned 100 years old. The name of the festival speaks for itself. This is where jazz music fans gather to listen to both eminent musicians and fresh performers. Once Big Brother & The Holding Company itself played at this remarkable festival.

As you probably know, coffee is very popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so we cannot fail to mention Coffee Fest Sarajevo. It is an international coffee festival that always gathers a huge number of lovers of this fragrant drink. The festival gives the opportunity to taste many varieties and types of coffee, tea, and chocolate from around the world. Here you can buy one of the many presented modern coffee machines, attend coffee seminars, and watch a competition among the world's best baristas. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

The international literary festival Sarajevo Poetry Fest has gathered authors from all over the world since 1962. It aims at preserving and developing Bosnian literary traditions, as well as the acquaintance with the world poetry. Poets from Russia, Jamaica, Turkey, and many other countries perform and read poetry in their native languages, live music always sounds here.

The annual Street Art Festival takes place on July 7-9 in several parts of Sarajevo. Here, street performers dance, juggle, sing, show tricks, and amuse the public in all possible ways, films on street art are shown, music plays, theatricals are staged, there are special programs for children. The festival is open to artists and visitors from all over the world.

The annual autumn international Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival brings together makers of social films, whose themes are focused on universal human values. There are only 3 awards for 15 films selected for the competition: The main award of the festival from the international jury, "Al Jazeera Award", and "Audience Choice Award". Dancers of all ages from all over the world perform and compete at the April InterDance Fest. Hustle, disco-swing, Latin American and Caribbean dances - here you can see all this and much more. Three days of energetic fun are guaranteed. The Cultural Summer of Zvornik is held for six days at the end of August. It offers wonderful performances by famous musicians and singers, a regatta trip on the river Drina, and a lot of entertainment.

The favorite holiday of Bosnians is Christmas, of course. It is celebrated in different ways due to different religions: Catholics celebrate on December 27, and Orthodox - on January 7. Muslims usually don't celebrate this holiday, however, they may join their Christian friends. In any case, Christmas for Bosnians is a family feast and a rich table. In December, a large number of Christmas fairs open, Bosnians enjoy ice-skating, children are waiting for Djed Mraz (Santa Claus) wearing a blue fur coat and his granddaughter (according to the Bosnian tradition, these characters live in Russia). PAN winter pub usually installed on the territory of the main Christmas market holds cultural events from noon to early morning hours. Here, under a large awning, you can listen to songs and live music, drink alcoholic cocktails or mocktails, watch comedy shows. And on Christmas Eve, Bosnians of all faiths gather in the Sacred Heart Cathedral for a midnight mass.