Days of Humor and Satire "Vuko Bezarević"
Five June days of comedy theatre and the "Tipar" satire award at Pljevlja's Center for Culture.
Pljevlja sits in the high country of Montenegro's far north, a town of long winters and quick wit, closer to the Tara canyon and the Serbian border than to any coast. Its satirical streak is a genuine local inheritance — humor as the highlands' weapon of choice against hardship — and the festival treats it accordingly.
The festival's backbone is its awards, which together map the whole territory of the comic arts: the "Tipar" award goes to the best book of humor and satire, the "Vuko Bezarević" award honours satirical prose, and the "Risto Pejatović" award recognizes caricature. Few festivals anywhere take the business of being funny this seriously.
On stage, comedy theatre performances carry the evenings, joined by a choir programme — five days in which the Center for Culture becomes a gathering point for the sharpest pens and best comic actors of the region, with the audience as the final judge.
Audiences need no local background to enjoy the stage programme — comic timing translates — while the award evenings offer a glimpse of a literary scene that takes its laughter with real seriousness. June is also the town's gentlest season, with the surrounding highlands green and the summer heat still at bay.
The festival runs over five days in June, and entry is free or low-cost. For travellers heading between the Tara canyon and Serbia, it is a reason to give Pljevlja — usually a transit town — an overnight stay and an evening of laughter.
What to expect
Four decades of laughter
The festival has run for some forty years — the 2025 edition was the thirty-ninth.
The "Tipar" award
The festival's flagship prize crowns the best book of humor and satire in the region.
Prose and caricature honoured
The "Vuko Bezarević" and "Risto Pejatović" awards recognize satirical prose and caricature.
The capital of humor
Writer Vuko Bezarević's legacy earned Pljevlja its reputation as the region's comic capital.
Comedy on stage
Theatre performances and a choir programme fill five free or low-cost June evenings.
What happens when
June 15 – 19, 2027
- Five June daysComedy theatre performances at the Center for Culture, plus a choir programme
- The "Tipar" awardFor the best book of humor and satire
- Further awardsThe "Vuko Bezarević" prize for satirical prose and the "Risto Pejatović" award for caricature
Photos
Where it takes place
More events
What else is on in Montenegro around the same time.
LiTeritorija
Three free June evenings with writers from across the former Yugoslavia.
Autumn Folklore Festival
Regional folk ensembles, vocal groups and majorettes fill Herceg Novi over five free autumn days.
Meetings under the Old Olive Tree
Children's poetry and art celebrated beneath Bar's 2,000-year-old olive tree each November.
