Christmas in Podgorica: the bazaar, New Year and two Christmases

The Christmas bazaar

Each December, wooden stalls fill Independence Square for the Christmas bazaar, traditionally the largest in Montenegro, with mulled wine, sweets, crafts and gifts, music on a stage and lights across the centre. It is organised by the Tourist Organisation of Podgorica with the city. The 2026 dates had not been announced when we last checked; in recent years the bazaar has run through December into early January.

New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve is the biggest night of the season in Montenegro. Podgorica usually celebrates with an open-air concert in the centre, and the restaurants and bars of the centre and City Kvart are full; book dinner well ahead.

Two Christmases

Montenegro’s Catholic communities, especially around the Bay of Kotor, celebrate Christmas on 25 December, while the Orthodox majority follows the Julian calendar and celebrates on 7 January. On Orthodox Christmas Eve, Badnji dan, families and parishes burn the badnjak, a young oak branch, and Christmas Day brings česnica, a round loaf with a coin hidden inside for luck.

Winter trips

Winter is a lovely, quiet time on the coast: Kotor’s old town is calm and decorated for the season, and Cetinje’s museums are crowd-free. In the north, the ski season usually starts in December around Kolašin and Žabljak, depending on the snow.

Questions and answers