Guča Trumpet Festival

The sound arrives before the town does. In early August Guča, a small town in the Dragačevo region, fills with trumpets, tubas and drums, and the music does not stop between the stage, the street, the kafanas and the tents. Bands play wherever someone stands still long enough, and the people who listen tip them. Nobody sells tickets to the town itself, which is why nobody can say how many come; the organisers speak of hundreds of thousands over the weekend.

It began small. The first Sabor was held in October 1961 in the churchyard, four orchestras from nearby villages competed, and about 2,500 people came. Today it runs Friday to Sunday in August. Friday opens the festival with a concert, and the days bring a parade of participants, the Dragačevo wedding, a competition for the first trumpet of Dragačevo, a folk multi-event contest and a contest of the best toast-givers. Sunday belongs to the final, in which the best orchestras play for the prizes: best orchestra, first trumpet, folk playing, and the Golden Trumpet, which the audience votes for.

The bands are mostly self-taught and play by ear, and that is the point of the competition: this is village music, not a conservatory exam.

How to go: Guča is in the municipality of Lučani, in western Serbia. Rooms are the real problem. In 2026, a week before the opening, Serbian media reported that accommodation was almost gone, so book months ahead, or sleep in a larger town nearby and come for the day. Our Zlatibor guide is the nearest base in this collection. Expect crowds and music until late.