Leskovac Grill Festival

For a week in late August the main street of Leskovac is closed to traffic and fills with smoke. Around 200 grill stands turn the city centre into one open restaurant, and the smell of pljeskavica, ćevapi and sausages follows you from one end of the street to the other.

Leskovac calls itself the grill capital of Serbia, and this is the proof. The idea goes back to the 1960s, and the Leskovac Tourist Organisation has organised the festival every year since 1990. Organisers speak of around half a million visitors a year, with guests from Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Greece and Romania among them. Treat the figures as the organisers' own.

The food is simple and the point. Pljeskavica is the grilled patty, made in the traditional recipe from coarsely ground beef with salt and onion that rests before it hits the grill. The signature order is the "Leskovac train", a meal of grilled specialties served in wagons. In 2025 a pljeskavica or ćevapi cost roughly 300 to 500 dinars, depending on size.

Around the food there are four contests: a giant pljeskavica, a contest for culinary school students from across Serbia, the hand-formed "pljeskavica iz ruke" that averages around 3 kg, and a grill masters' competition. Leskovac claims a world record for a 60 kg pljeskavica and regularly tries to beat it. Brass bands and čoček music play through the days, and each evening a concert on the central square draws the crowd. In 2026 the festival was listed from Monday 24 to Sunday 30 August, with the evening concerts, a different singer each night, running from 24 to 29 August. Reports in 2025 noted that the performers' fees come from the city budget.

Plan on a busy week. Niš, 49 km north, is the natural base and its guide describes Leskovac as the extra day trip. Book rooms early if you want to stay over, and check the program of the evening concerts, which are the busiest hours.