Sač Fest
When
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Tickets
Sač Fest is Danilovgrad's celebration of Montenegro's most beloved cooking method: the sač, an iron bell placed over food and buried in embers. The festival's centrepiece is a veal-under-sač cook-off held on riverside grounds — the 2025 edition on 7 September drew 103 teams and more than 7,000 visitors, after the 2024 edition on 15 September.
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.
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.
Entry for visitors is free; come hungry and unhurried, as sač cooking cannot be rushed.
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.
Cook-off
Over a hundred teams prepare veal under the sač — iron bells over embers — on the riverside grounds
Jury awards
A tasting jury crowns the best teams; team Zagor won in 2025
Folk day
Music and festivities around the cooking all day long
Humanitarian note
The festival includes a charitable fund
Riverside grounds, Danilovgrad
