Dan širuna — Horse Mackerel Day

The scale of the hospitality is the story: around 1,500 kilograms of grilled fish, 1,000 litres of wine and 600 litres of beer are served completely free to everyone who comes. Smoke from the long grills drifts across the square as locals and visitors queue plate in hand — one of the most generous free feasts anywhere on the Adriatic.

The day builds from the afternoon with a children's and sports programme, including folk-sports competitions, before the evening turns to a concert and dancing beneath the Old Town walls.

The feast is rooted in the fishing calendar itself: the autumn arrival of the širun schools has fed Budva for generations, and celebrating the catch by giving it away is the old coastal logic of abundance — when the sea provides, the table is everyone's.

Everything is free. Mid-October Budva is warm, quiet and golden — the beaches empty, the sea still swimmable — and Dan širuna is the town's thank-you to the season, well worth timing a visit around. Come in the afternoon for the games and stay through the evening concert.