IFTO — International Festival of Tamburica Orchestras
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IFTO — the International Festival of Tamburica Orchestras — has been Bijelo Polje's signature summer event since 2003, and its 22nd edition ran on 29 and 30 July 2025; the 23rd is expected in late July 2026, with dates yet to be announced. Each late July, the city square becomes the region's premier stage for the tamburica, the long-necked string instrument at the heart of Pannonian and Balkan folk music.
Bijelo Polje — its name means "white field", after the meadows along the Lim river — is one of northern Montenegro's largest towns, and its musical life sits at a crossroads of traditions from the surrounding highlands and valleys. The tamburica, with its bright, silvery ring, is the sound of that shared heritage.
Eight or more of the best tamburica orchestras from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro share the open-air stage over two main evenings, and guest stars regularly join them — the 22nd edition in July 2025 featured Divanhana and Perper, and earlier years hosted the vocal group The Frajle. The shimmering, layered sound of massed tamburicas filling a summer square is the festival's calling card.
IFTO also warms up long before the main nights: side programmes begin around 23 July, with evenings of poetry and song spreading the festival mood through the town during the preceding week.
The experience rewards simply settling in: as dusk falls the square fills, families claim their benches, and wave after wave of orchestras — each with its own ranks of instruments from delicate lead to deep bass — builds toward the guest-star finale. Even listeners who arrive knowing nothing of the tradition tend to leave humming it.
Both main concert evenings on the city square are free, as are the side events — simply turn up, find a spot on the square and let the orchestras do the rest. It is the easiest introduction to one of the Balkans' most beloved musical traditions.
8+ orchestras, four countries
The best tamburica ensembles from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro share one open-air stage.
A tradition since 2003
Over two decades of editions have made IFTO the region's premier tamburica gathering — the 22nd ran in 2025, with the 23rd expected in late July 2026.
Guest stars
Headliners raise the temperature of the main nights — Divanhana and Perper starred in 2025, The Frajle in an earlier edition.
A week of warm-up
Poetry and song evenings begin around 23 July, spreading the festival through Bijelo Polje before the main concerts.
Free on the square
Both main evenings and all side programmes are free to attend.
From 23 July
Side programmes — evenings of poetry and song around town
Main nights, two evenings
8+ tamburica orchestras from Croatia, Serbia, BiH and Montenegro on the city square
Guest stars
Headline guest performers traditionally join the orchestras on the main nights
City square, Bijelo Polje
