Dan širuna — Horse Mackerel Day
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Each autumn, schools of širun — horse mackerel — arrive in the waters off Budva, and the town has celebrated the catch since the 1960s with Dan širuna, Horse Mackerel Day. The 59th edition falls on Saturday 10 October 2026, on the square before the Old Town walls.
October is Budva with the volume turned down. The summer crowds are months gone, the walled Old Town and its citadel stand in soft golden light, and the town belongs again to the people who live there year-round. Dan širuna is the year's clearest expression of that homecoming — a feast the town throws for itself and shares with anyone who arrives.
The scale of the hospitality is the 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 drifts across the square as locals and visitors queue plate in hand — one of the most generous free feasts anywhere on the Adriatic.
The day builds from the afternoon with a children's and sports programme, including folk-sports competitions, before the evening turns to a concert and dancing beneath the Old Town walls.
The feast is rooted in the fishing calendar itself: the autumn arrival of the širun schools has fed Budva for generations, and celebrating the catch by giving it away is the old coastal logic of abundance — when the sea provides, the table is everyone's.
Everything is free. Mid-October Budva is warm, quiet and golden — the beaches empty, the sea still swimmable — and Dan širuna is the town's thank-you to the season, well worth timing a visit around. Come in the afternoon for the games and stay through the evening concert.
A free feast on a grand scale
Roughly 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 fish run
The festival celebrates the širun schools that arrive off Budva each autumn.
Folk sports and evening concert
Afternoon competitions and children's events lead into a night of music and dancing.
Beneath the Old Town walls
The feast fills the square before Budva's medieval walls, golden and quiet in mid-October.
Worth timing a trip around
Warm sea, empty beaches and the coast's most generous free table — October Budva at its best.
From the afternoon
Children's programme, sports events and folk-sports competitions on the square before the Old Town
All day
Around 1,500 kg of grilled širun, 1,000 l of wine and 600 l of beer served free
Evening
Concert and dancing beneath the Old Town walls
Square before the Old Town, Budva
