Guitar Art Summer Fest

The Guitar Art Summer Fest — the seaside summer edition of Belgrade's renowned Guitar Art Festival — celebrates its 20th jubilee in Herceg Novi in 2026, expanding into three blocks that stretch from June to September.

Herceg Novi suits the guitar. The town rises in green terraces from a long seaside promenade to the fortress above, and its summer evenings — warm, unhurried, scented with gardens — are exactly the register the instrument was made for. The festival has grown into one of the anchors of the town's cultural summer, and the jubilee spreads it across the whole season.

The jubilee opened on 26–27 June with a headline concert by Bryan Adams at Kanli Kula fortress. The main block follows on 2–6 August, bringing Amira Medunjanin, Gipsy Kings by Diego Baliardo and the Rosenberg Family to the coast, before a closing block on 17–20 September at Škver.

Days are as busy as nights: masterclasses and workshops let students work directly with the visiting artists, while luthier exhibitions display the craft behind the instrument — handmade guitars you can examine up close and discuss with their makers. The mix gives the festival two audiences at once: concert-goers who come for the stars, and players who come for the school.

The three-block structure also means three different seasons of the town: late June's early-summer freshness, the full heat and bustle of the August main block, and the mellow, post-season September close by the water at Škver.

The big concerts are ticketed, so book ahead for the headline nights. Early August is peak season in Herceg Novi, and the festival folds neatly into a beach holiday: swim by day, study or browse the luthiers in the afternoon, concert under the stars at night.