Plavski otkos (Plav Mowing Days)

Plavski otkos is Plav's traditional scythe-mowing competition, held on the mountain meadows above the town, revived in recent years as an annual gathering. It celebrates a skill as old as highland life itself: cutting hay with a hand scythe, the summer labour that once decided whether a mountain household's livestock survived the winter.

Haymaking once shaped the entire summer calendar of the Montenegrin highlands. Meadows like those above Plav were a household's bank account: the hay cut in high summer fed the animals through the long snowbound months, and a poor mowing season meant a hard winter. The otkos — the swathe a mower cuts — was never just grass.

Competitors — many in folk costume — line up on the meadow and mow their strips in long, rhythmic sweeps, judged on the quality and speed of their cut. At stake is the title of "best mower", an honour that still carries genuine bragging rights in a region where scythe skill was for centuries a measure of a man.

Around the mowing, the day unfolds as a full highland celebration: folk music, traditional dress and local food turn the meadow into a festival ground, with the Prokletije mountains rising behind the mowers. It is one of the most photogenic traditional events in Montenegro's north.

Spectators are welcome close to the action, and the day rewards lingering: between rounds there is food, music and the spectacle of the Prokletije wall shimmering beyond the meadow. Photographers will find the low, rhythmic line of mowers against the peaks irresistible.

The competition takes place in summer on the meadows above Plav, and watching is free. Combine it with the lake, the springs of the Plav–Gusinje valley and the Prokletije trails for a full highland day out.