New Year in Montenegro

New Year's Eve in Montenegro is celebrated on the town squares. Podgorica, Budva, Kotor, Herceg Novi, Tivat and Bar put on open-air concerts with regional pop and rock performers on 31 December and usually again on 1 January, and Podgorica and Kolašin run winter fairs of wooden stalls for several weeks around the holiday. 1 and 2 January are public holidays and most shops close. Each town announces its programme and line-up in late November or December; check the tourist organisations' sites listed below, or ask locally, before you plan the night.

Where to spend New Year's Eve

Each town's tourist organisation or municipality runs its own programme, on the same square every year. How long each ran in 2025/26:

Programmes are published by the tourist organisations: budva.travel, podgorica.travel, kotor.travel, hercegnovi.travel, tivat.travel, bar.travel and kolasin.me.

Budva

Budva has the longest run of concert nights on one square, on the main square in front of the Old Town; in 2025/26 there were fireworks every night and a drone show. The town's tourist organisation runs it and has published the programme in late November.

Kotor

In Kotor the New Year concerts are part of Kotor Winter Fest, a programme of several weeks with a New Year bazaar on the Gradska riva (the town waterfront) and a children's bazaar in the new city park. The Municipality and the tourist organisation stage the New Year's Eve concert on Trg od oružja, and concerts carry on for a few nights after it.

Herceg Novi, Tivat and Bar

Herceg Novi's programme on Trg Nikole Đurkovića is organised by the Municipality, its tourist organisation and JUK Herceg Fest. Tivat spreads its concerts over the holiday weeks rather than one night; in 2024/25 the programme was on the Pine promenade, with New Year cabins. In Bar the concerts are on the platform in front of the Topolica sports hall.

Cetinje, Kolašin and Žabljak

Cetinje's winter programme, Novogodišnja priča u Prijestonici, ran from 19 December 2025 to 7 January 2026 with no entertainment on New Year's night or on 1-3 January. Kolašin and Žabljak had no square concert for New Year's night; their winter is the ski season and, in Kolašin, the bazaar below.

Nikšić and Portonovi

The Municipality of Nikšić holds a New Year and Christmas bazaar; for 2026/27 it is set for 10 December 2026 to 15 January 2027. Portonovi (Kumbor, near Herceg Novi) lists ice skating on Marina Square (12 December 2026 to 24 January 2027 in its calendar), carols on the square before Christmas and a New Year's Run on 2 January; the operator notes that events can change.

Podgorički pazar: the winter fair in Podgorica

Podgorički pazar is the winter fair of wooden stalls on Trg nezavisnosti, the main square of Podgorica, run by the Podgorica Tourist Organisation with other city companies; the square's New Year concerts are part of it. It opens in mid-December and runs into January: from 16 December 2024 to 15 January 2025, and from 19 December 2025, with concerts postponed by bad weather held up to 13 January 2026. The stalls sell food and drink such as mulled wine and sausages, organisations have stands, with evening concerts and a children's programme at weekends.

Not the same place: Bazar in Podgorica is the year-round green market at Blaža Jovanovića 10 (Blok V), open since October 2012, selling produce, cheese, eggs and flowers. See the shopping guide.

The Kolašin Christmas and New Year bazaar

The bazaar on Trg boraca in Kolašin is run by the Kolašin Tourist Organisation with local businesses and the Municipality's support. Its official name is the Christmas Bazaar (Božićni bazar); locally it is also called the New Year or holiday bazaar. Stalls sell handmade souvenirs and jewellery, honey and herbs, New Year decorations, and hats, scarves and gloves, along with priganice (fried dough), mulled wine and mulled rakija, with music and a children's programme. It runs from the end of December to the end of January, and in 2025 it opened early, on 12 December, with the ski season opening weekend at Kolašin 1600.

Other winter fairs

• Kotor: the New Year bazaar on the Gradska riva during Kotor Winter Fest.
• Tivat: a New Year bazaar in late December that sells items at symbolic prices for charity.
• Nikšić: the Municipality's bazaar (above).
• Portonovi: a festive market and a tree lighting in December.

Snow and the ski season

The ski season in Kolašin opens with a weekend of events in December, organised by Skijališta Crne Gore, the tourist organisation and the Municipality (12-14 December in 2025), but whether the lifts at Kolašin 1600, Kolašin 1450 and Savin kuk near Žabljak run over New Year depends on snow. Check snow and skiing today, the weather and the road conditions before driving north; the months are described on the December and January pages.

Orthodox Christmas and the Orthodox New Year

Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas (6, 7 and 8 January) are paid days off for Orthodox employees, not general public holidays, so shops may open. The customs of Badnji dan, the badnjak fires town by town and what stays open are on the Christmas in Montenegro page. The Orthodox New Year falls on 14 January, St Basil's day (Vasiljevdan, also called Mali Božić), and is seen in on the night of 13 January. It is not a public holiday, but some towns end their holiday programmes with a concert that night, as Tivat and Kotor Winter Fest did in 2025/26.

What is open on 1 and 2 January

New Year's Day is a public holiday kept for two days, 1 and 2 January, both non-working; if 1 January falls on a Sunday, the next two days are off instead. Article 35b of the Internal Trade Act bans shop trading on public holidays, so most shops close. Pharmacies, bakeries, petrol stations, markets, flower and souvenir kiosks and shops in stations, airports and ports may open, and so may stalls at events and fairs, so the bazaars trade over the holiday. Dates of the other holidays are on the public holidays page and pharmacy hours in the pharmacies directory.