Montenegro Holidays and Festivals: 2026–2027 Calendar

Every state holiday in Montenegro means two days off in a row, and there are five of them: New Year, 1 May, Independence Day on 21 May, Statehood Day on 13 July and Njegoš Day on 13 November. On top of those, many offices and shops close for Orthodox Christmas, 6–8 January, and for Orthodox Easter, on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Festivals keep their own calendar. February brings the carnival in Kotor and the Mimosa Festival in Herceg Novi; summer brings the Grad Teatar theatre festival in Budva, the Fašinada in Perast on 22 July and Boka Night in Kotor towards the end of August. Below is everything month by month, with the 2026 dates and what is already known about 2027.

In short

• Five state holidays, each with two days off; if one falls at the weekend, the Monday is off.
• On holidays banks and government offices close and, according to local listings, most supermarkets too.
• February — the winter carnival in Kotor and the Mimosa Festival in Herceg Novi.
• Summer — Grad Teatar in Budva from late June to late August, the Fašinada on 22 July, Boka Night on the second-to-last Saturday of August.
• Coming up next — Njegoš Day on 13–14 November 2026 and the winter fair in Kotor from late November.
• 2027: the public holidays are fixed; most festival dates are not yet.

Public holidays in Montenegro, 2026 and 2027

Holiday	2026	2027
New Year	1–2 January, Thu–Fri	1–2 January, Fri–Sat
Labour Day	1–2 May, Fri–Sat	1–2 May, Sat–Sun; Monday 3 May off
Independence Day	21–22 May, Thu–Fri	21–22 May, Fri–Sat
Statehood Day	13–14 July, Mon–Tue	13–14 July, Tue–Wed
Njegoš Day	13–14 November, Fri–Sat	13–14 November, Sat–Sun; Monday 15 November off

The weekend rule works like this: if the first day of a holiday falls on a Sunday, the next two working days are off; if it falls on a Saturday, the Monday is. In 2027, 1 May coincides with Orthodox Easter (2 May), so Monday 3 May is a day off for two reasons at once. Whether an extra day will be added has not been announced.

Religious holidays

Holiday	2026	2027
Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas	6–8 January	6–8 January
Orthodox Easter	10–13 April: Good Friday on the 10th, Easter Sunday on the 12th	30 April – 3 May: Easter Sunday on 2 May
Catholic Easter	5 April	28 March
Catholic Christmas	24–26 December	24–26 December
Eid al-Fitr (Ramazanski Bajram)	20 March	around 9 March
Eid al-Adha (Kurban Bajram)	27 May	around 16 May

Many offices and shops close for Orthodox Christmas and Easter. The other faiths have paid days off for believers: Catholics for Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Monday and All Saints’ Day on 1 November; Muslims three days for each Bajram; Jewish residents two days each for Passover and Yom Kippur. The 2027 Bajram dates are estimates, as they depend on the moon.

If you are planning an Easter break from Britain or Ireland, note that the two Easters often fall on different dates: in 2026 they are a week apart, in 2027 more than a month. Your bank holiday weekend follows the Catholic date; Montenegro’s closures follow the Orthodox one.

What closes on a public holiday?

This is what catches out visitors from Britain, where most shops trade on bank holidays. According to local listings, on state holidays Montenegro shuts not only its banks and government offices but its supermarkets and shopping centres too. Buy food the day before, especially when a holiday runs into a weekend, as 13–14 November 2026 does: Friday and Saturday, with Sunday straight after.

Montenegro festivals month by month

January and February

• 1–2 January — New Year; 6–8 January — Orthodox Christmas Eve (Badnji dan) and Christmas.
• 3 February — Tripundan, the feast of St Tryphon, Kotor’s patron saint. Tradition has it that his relics were brought to Kotor on 13 January 809, and the Boka Navy (Bokeljska mornarica), the brotherhood of the bay’s seafarers, dates itself from then. On the feast day its members dance the kolo, a circle dance, in the square. In 2021 the Boka Navy became the first entry from Montenegro on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. In 2026 the town celebrations were held on the nearest Sunday, 8 February.
• The winter carnival in Kotor — in 2026 it ran from 6 to 15 February. It ends with a parade, a mock “trial” of the carnival and the burning of its effigy on the Square of Arms. In 2026 it also marked a hundred years of the satirical paper Karampana.
• The Mimosa Festival in Herceg Novi — the 57th took place from 13 to 28 February 2026, in the town itself and in Igalo, Baošići and Đenovići. The first weekend is a festival of mimosa, fish and wine; in all there were more than 60 events and 19 sports competitions. It has been held since 1969, and since 1991 the town has belonged to the Federation of European Carnival Cities. About the town itself: Herceg Novi.
• The Wine and Bleak Festival in Virpazar, on Lake Skadar, straddles February and March: the 28th was held on 28 February – 1 March 2026, with 26 winemakers and 66 wines. Bleak (ukljeva) is a small lake fish. On the local wines: Montenegrin wine and rakija.

The February festivals are a good reason to come out of season: there are few tourists, yet Kotor and Herceg Novi are noisy and festive for those few weeks.

March to May

• Easter in 2026: Catholic on 5 April, Orthodox on 12 April. In 2027: 28 March and 2 May.
• 1–2 May — Labour Day. In Kotor people spend it on Mount Vrmac, and the outing even has a name: Svi na Vrmac, “Everyone up Vrmac”.
• 21–22 May — Independence Day; 2026 marked twenty years since the 2006 referendum.

June to August

• Grad Teatar in Budva — the 40th festival ran from 30 June to 23 August 2026: 55 days and more than 68 events. The stages are set up between the churches of the old town, on Poets’ Square, in the Citadel and in Mogren fortress. The main productions are ticketed, and part of the programme is free. It has been held since 1987. About the town: Budva.
• 2–10 July — the Kotor children’s theatre festival, running since 1993.
• 13–14 July — Statehood Day.
• 13 July – 16 August — the main programme of the KotorArt festival.
• 22 July — the Fašinada in Perast. At sunset, boats lashed together carry stones out to the island of Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) and drop them into the sea around it, while an old song is sung. The custom goes back to a legend: on 22 July 1452 sailors found an icon of the Virgin on the reef, and the island has been built up with stones ever since. The full story is in Perast and its islands.
• The summer carnival in Kotor — the 24th ran from 30 July to 1 August 2026; the parade was on Saturday 1 August, from the summer swimming pool to the Old Town.
• Boka Night in Kotor (Bokeška noć) — on the second-to-last Saturday of August, which in 2026 was 22 August. From 21:00, 25 decorated boats pass in front of the Old Town in three runs and are judged by a jury, followed by concerts in the squares and fireworks. It is free. The festival goes back to the late 18th century, when it was called Venetian Night; the present name dates from the early 20th century. Since 2013 Boka Night has been part of Montenegro’s intangible cultural heritage.

You can also watch the boat parade from the water: a skippered yacht from Kotor costs from €580 for three hours, and that price is for the whole boat, not per person. Boats for this evening are booked well in advance; options are on the yacht charter page.

September to December

• 19 September — Zasjaće palaci, a festival of light on the Square of Arms in Kotor; in 2026 it was a single evening.
• 13–14 November — Njegoš Day, a celebration of Montenegrin culture on the birthday of Petar II Petrović Njegoš. Who he was and where his mausoleum stands: Njegoš and his mausoleum.
• From late November — the fourth Kotor Winter Fest, a winter fair on the town’s waterfront.
• 24–26 December — Catholic Christmas.

What do we know about 2027?

Fixed-date feasts carry over from year to year: Tripundan falls on 3 February (a Wednesday) and the Fašinada on 22 July (a Thursday). By the usual rule Boka Night should fall on 21 August, but the date has not been officially announced.

The 2027 dates for the Kotor winter carnival, the Mimosa Festival, Grad Teatar and the summer carnival have not been announced either. Going by 2026, expect the winter carnival in February, the Mimosa Festival in the second half of February, Grad Teatar from late June to late August and the summer carnival in late July or early August. Check the dates again closer to your trip.

How to plan a trip around a festival

Kotor and Perast are packed on festival days. Parking in Kotor costs from €0.90 an hour in the outlying car parks to €4.80 by the Old Town walls (the summer rate; €2.40 in winter), and on Boka Night there will be no spaces by the walls at all. Arrive early, or leave the car further out and walk in; how the town works is explained in Kotor in a day.

From the airport, a transfer is the easier way to reach a festival: from Tivat airport to Kotor from €44, to Herceg Novi from €116, per car. Options are in the transfer section.

The February festivals fall in the low season, when car hire is at its cheapest: economy cars from €25 a day. Herceg Novi, Kotor and Virpazar are easiest to combine over one weekend under your own steam: car rental.

Time and paperwork. Montenegro runs on Central European Time, an hour ahead of the UK, so Boka Night’s 21:00 start is 20:00 in London. British visitors can stay up to 90 days in any 180 without a visa; EU citizens can enter on a passport for up to 90 days or on an ID card for up to 30. Details are in entry requirements for Montenegro, and weather and prices month by month in when to visit Montenegro.

Dates and prices checked in September 2026. Sources: Montenegrin law on state and other holidays, Kotor’s 2026 culture programme, Kotor Cultural Centre, National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro, UNESCO, local media in Kotor, Budva and Herceg Novi.