Shooting the Kokot (Perast Votive Day)

The day opens with a procession of the Boka Navy accompanied by the Kotor City Music, marching along the waterfront in historic uniforms. Before St. Nicholas Church the Navy dances its traditional kolo, followed by a solemn mass and the laying of wreaths in memory of the town's defenders.

The ritual that gave the day its name — the shooting of the kokot (rooster) from a boat off the waterfront — has been suspended entirely since 2019, and today the celebration centres on the procession, the kolo, the mass and the wreath-laying. The name endures as a memory of the centuries-old custom rather than a practice you will see performed.

For visitors, the appeal is intimacy. There are no barriers and no grandstands: you stand on the same stone waterfront as the townspeople, close enough to hear the commands and the brass, with the still morning bay as a backdrop. It is Boka tradition performed for the community itself, not staged for an audience.

The celebration is free and compact — everything happens along Perast's single waterfront street and the church square, easily covered on foot in minutes. Mid-May is a lovely, uncrowded time in the bay, with mild weather and clear light, and the Votive Day makes a memorable reason to time a Perast visit before the summer season begins.