Tradition · Montenegro

Širun Day – Horse Mackerel Day

Name: Širun Day – Horse Mackerel Day
Start: 2026-10-18
End: 2026-10-18
Location: Trg ispred Starog grada, Budva

1,500 kg of free grilled fish and wine in abundance close the Budva season every October.

October 18, 2026Trg ispred Starog grada, Budva

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About the event

Every autumn, schools of širun – horse mackerel – arrive in the waters off Budva, and the town has celebrated the catch since the 1960s with the Širun Day festival. The fifty-ninth edition was scheduled for Saturday, 10 October 2026, but was postponed due to forecast bad weather: according to the Budva Tourist Organisation, it will take place on Sunday, 18 October 2026, in the area in front of the Old Town.

The event is jointly organised by the Tourist Organisation of the Municipality of Budva, the Municipality of Budva and the KSR “Širun”. Due to the change of date, the announced headliner Bruno Rački will not perform, and TO Budva announced that the programme for the new date will be published later.

October is Budva with the noise turned down. The summer crowds are long gone, the walled Old Town and its citadel stand in soft golden light, and the town once again belongs to the people who live there all year round. Širun Day is the clearest expression of that homecoming – a feast the town makes for itself and shares with everyone who comes.

The scale of hospitality is the real story: around 1,500 kilograms of grilled fish, 1,000 litres of wine and 600 litres of beer are served completely free to everyone who comes. Smoke from the long grills spreads across the square while locals and visitors wait in line with plates in their hands – one of the most generous free feasts on the entire Adriatic.

The day begins in the afternoon with a children’s and sports programme, including competitions in traditional sports, and then in the evening moves into a concert and dance under the walls of the Old Town.

Tradition

The feast is rooted in the fishing calendar itself: the autumn arrival of schools of širun fed Budva for generations, and celebrating the catch by giving it away to others is the old coastal logic of abundance – when the sea gives, the table is shared.

Everything is free. Budva in mid-October is warm, calm and golden – beaches empty, the sea still suitable for swimming – and Širun Day is the town’s gratitude to the season, worth planning a visit around exactly at that time. Come in the afternoon for the games and stay until the evening concert.

Why go

What to expect

A free feast on a grand scale

Around 1,500 kg of grilled horse mackerel, 1,000 litres of wine and 600 litres of beer – all served free.

Six decades of tradition

Held since the 1960s – the 59th edition arrives in October 2026.

Autumn arrival of the fish

The festival celebrates the schools of širun that arrive off Budva every autumn.

Traditional sports and an evening concert

Afternoon competitions and a children’s programme lead into a night of music and dance.

Under the walls of the Old Town

The feast fills the square in front of Budva’s medieval walls, golden and calm in mid-October.

Worth planning a trip around this event

Warm sea, empty beaches and the most generous free table of the coast – Budva in October at its most beautiful.

Programme

What happens when

October 18, 2026

From the afternoonChildren’s programme, sports events and traditional sports competitions on the square in front of the Old Town
All dayAround 1,500 kg of grilled širun, 1,000 l of wine and 600 l of beer served free
In the eveningConcert and dance under the walls of the Old Town

Location