Sač Fest
A hundred teams cook veal under the sač at Danilovgrad's riverside festival.
This event has ended
It returns every year — dates for the next edition haven't been announced yet.
The setting is the green Zeta valley, where Danilovgrad sits amid fields and river bends. Early September catches the valley at its most generous: the summer heat softening, the countryside still green, and the riverside grounds made for a whole day outdoors around the fires.
Teams in branded jerseys tend their embers for hours as the smell of slow-cooked veal drifts across the grounds, until a jury tastes and ranks the results — in 2025 the honours went to team Zagor. Around the fires unfolds a full folk day of music and socialising in the Zeta valley.
For visitors, the pleasure is in the slowness. Sač cooking is a matter of embers, iron and hours, so the day moves at walking pace: wandering between the fires, watching teams shovel coals over their bells, following the smoke and the music, and waiting for the moment the lids finally come off and the tasting begins.
Food & wine
The festival also gives back: a humanitarian fund is part of the event, turning a feast into a cause. Few events capture central Montenegro's food culture — patience, fire and meat done right — as directly as this one. It is a day about hospitality as much as competition, and strangers are drawn into conversation around the embers as readily as neighbours.
Sač Fest is held annually in early September on the riverside grounds in Danilovgrad; this year it falls on 6 September. Entry for visitors is free; come hungry and unhurried, as sač cooking cannot be rushed.
What to expect
103 teams under the bell
The 2025 cook-off gathered 103 teams and more than 7,000 visitors.
Slow fire, iron bell
Veal cooked under the sač — Montenegro's signature ember-baking method.
Jerseys and jury
Teams compete in branded jerseys for the tasting jury's verdict.
Feast with a cause
A humanitarian fund is built into the festival; visitor entry is free.
A folk day by the river
Music and socialising fill the riverside grounds in the Zeta valley all day around the cooking.
Early-September tradition
The festival is held annually in early September; this year's edition falls on 6 September.
What happens when
September 6, 2026
- Cook-offTeams from across the region prepare veal under the sač — iron bells over embers — on the riverside grounds; 103 teams entered in 2025
- Jury awardsA tasting jury crowns the best teams; team Zagor won in 2025
- Folk dayMusic and festivities around the cooking all day long
- Humanitarian noteThe festival includes a charitable fund
Where it takes place
More events
What else is on in Montenegro around the same time.
Maslinijada (Olive Festival)
Stari Bar's olive fair — 70 exhibitors, oil awards and live music in the old bazaar, late November.
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.
Wild Garlic Days (Dani sremuša)
A May wild-garlic cook-off with folklore at the Mojan Adventure Center beneath the Komovi.
