KotorArt International Festival
Montenegro's most important classical festival — a month of music in Kotor's cathedral square, churches and palaces.
This event has ended
It returns every year — dates for the next edition haven't been announced yet.
Kotor gives the festival a setting no concert hall can copy. The Old Town is a maze of stone squares, churches and palaces beneath the fortified hillside, and hearing world-class classical playing in the square before St Tryphon Cathedral — or a recital inside one of the Old Town's palaces — folds the architecture into the performance. The venues carry the festival as much as the music does.
Concerts are staged in the cathedral square and in the churches and palaces of Kotor, and the festival has historically presented more than 200 programmes across the bay, including Perast. The scale is unusual for the region: a full month of programming, from headline evenings to smaller recitals threaded through the town's interiors.
Because the festival runs for a month, its programme threads through the entire peak of the Boka summer, giving almost any July or August visit to Kotor a KotorArt evening to catch. An evening at the festival slots naturally into a Boka day — the Old Town at dusk, the audience gathering on the square, music beginning as the stone cools.
Its status matters too: as Montenegro's most important classical festival, with Don Branko's Music Days at its core, KotorArt anchors the country's classical year. For visitors it is the most reliable place in Montenegro to hear music of this level, in surroundings that turn every concert into an occasion.
KotorArt runs 14 July – 14 August 2026 in Kotor and around the bay, opening on 15 July with a film programme. Some concerts are ticketed, while the open-air programmes are free — so there is a way into the festival at any budget.
What to expect
National significance
KotorArt is Montenegro's most important classical music festival.
Don Branko's Music Days
The music days form the core of the month-long festival.
Cathedral square concerts
Performances fill the square before St Tryphon Cathedral and the town's churches and palaces.
200+ programmes historically
The festival has presented over two hundred programmes across the bay, including Perast.
Ticketed and free
Headline concerts are ticketed; open-air programmes are free.
A month to catch it
With programming from 14 July to 14 August, almost any high-summer visit to Kotor overlaps the festival.
What happens when
July 14 – August 14, 2026
- Tue14JulTuesday, July 14Festival month beginsKotorArt's 2026 programme gets under way in Kotor.
- Wed15JulWednesday, July 15Opening film programmeThe festival opens with a film programme.
- Fri14AugFriday, August 14Closing dayThe final day of the month-long festival.
Photos
Where it takes place
Where to Eat in Kotor
“Partner” marks a paid placement. We verify the details with the venue’s official source.
Plan your stay
Kotor — where to stay and how to get around
Live offers from local hosts on our booking platform. Nothing is charged online — you pay the host on site.
Booking requests are confirmed by the host; payment on site. Offers come from the Travel to Montenegro booking platform.
More events
What else is on in Montenegro around the same time.
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.
DEUS — December Arts Scene
A month-long December season of theatre, music, literature and film across Podgorica.