Maslinijada (Olive Festival)
Stari Bar's olive fair – 70 exhibitors, oil awards and live music in the old bazaar, late November.
Stari Bar supplies the setting: the old bazaar street below the ruined hilltop town, a lane of stone houses, cafés and craft shops climbing toward the fortress gate. In late November the street trades summer's sightseers for the bustle of the harvest season, and the fair fills it end to end.
Around seventy exhibitors line the bazaar street with olives, olive oil, citrus, honey and wine, while juries hand out the awards for the best oil and the best-kept olive grove – the local growers' moment of pride. Visitors graze their way along the stands, tasting and comparing as they go, with live music running through both days of the fair and the bazaar street at its busiest of the year.
The fair traditionally opens with a walk to the Dabanovo olive groves – a fitting start, since the groves themselves are the point of the whole occasion. The setting explains it: Bar is Montenegro's olive country, and just below Stari Bar, at Mirovica, grows the Stara maslina – an olive tree more than 2,000 years old.
Maslinijada is the harvest-season moment when that heritage fills the old bazaar with producers, tastings and music. Tied to Bar's Liberation Day, it doubles as a town celebration – one of the truest local festivals on the coast's autumn calendar.
Maslinijada takes place in late November in Stari Bar; the 2026 fair is expected on 23–24 November, in the festival's traditional slot around Liberation Day. Entry is free, and the fair pairs naturally with a visit to the old town above.
What to expect
70 exhibitors
Producers of olives, oil, citrus, honey and wine fill the old bazaar street.
Best oil, best grove
Juries award the finest olive oil and the best-kept grove.
Walk to the groves
The fair opens with a walk to the Dabanovo olive groves.
Near a 2,000-year-old tree
The Stara maslina at Mirovica, over two millennia old, grows just below Stari Bar.
Free entry
The fair and its music are free for all visitors.
Pair it with the old town
The fair fills the bazaar street right below Stari Bar's fortress – see both in one visit.
What happens when
November 23 – 24, 2026
- OpeningThe traditional walk to the Dabanovo olive groves starts the fair
- Both daysAround 70 exhibitors with olives, oil, citrus, honey and wine lining the old bazaar street
- AwardsPrizes for the best olive oil and the best-kept olive grove
- ThroughoutLive music in Stari Bar
Photos
Where it takes place
More events
What else is on in Montenegro around the same time.
Krtolijada
The third Krtolijada of Orjen Nature Park, on 18 October at Vrbanj above Herceg Novi: a walk on the Health Trail, a raštan cook-off and a potato relay race.
Wine and Bleak Festival
Traditional festival of wine and lake fish in Virpazar on the shore of Lake Skadar, in the heart of the Crmnica wine region.
Žućenica Fest
Tivat's 20-year-old gastro feast of wild chicory – tastings, awards and klapa on the waterfront.