Maslinijada (Olive Festival)

Maslinijada is Bar's olive fair, held in the old bazaar street of Stari Bar in the festival's traditional late-November slot, tied to Bar's Liberation Day on 24 November. The 2026 edition is expected on 23–24 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.