Yesterday’s Daily Telegraph features an article titled “Greetings from Belgrade as low-cost flight route opens” by Adrian Bridge who was guided around Belgrade by our Belgrade Greeters.

The article is short but with good observations about Belgrade’s architecture, people and the night life.

“In recent years the city’s youth have made a name for themselves for partying. Much is made here of the declaration in Lonely Planet’s guide to “1000 Ultimate Experiences” that “Belgrade rocks” and is now one of the best places to party on the planet – and the throngs of beautiful young people and the all-night hum from barges on the Sava and the Danube testify to it.”

The article concludes with “I have been pleasantly surprised; Belgrade has been quite an eye-opener.“

On April 23rd, BS Tours has started their regular Belgrade bus tours for this year.

City sightseeing from an open top tourist bus takes about 70 minutes and it is available from April to October, every day except Monday. Start times are 11:00 am and 1:00 pm from Nikola Pašić Square.

Ticket price is 500 din., 250 din. for children under 12 years.

For more details, check out the BS Tours information

Technorati Tags: Belgrade, Bus Tour, Sightseeing

The traditional summer time festival, BELEF is staged in open air or in alternative urban spaces. It unifies theater, music and painting. The festival explores various city spaces and facilities, contents and innovative forms of artistic expression. BELEF strives to reflect the sensibility of Belgrade citizens and artists in all segments of its program.

The 2010 BELEF festival takes place over the summer months of July and August. Visit belef.org for more information.

Technorati Tags: belgrade, belef, summer festival

The 2nd Serbia Open ATP tournament will be held in Belgrade 1-9th May 2010. Check out the official tournament website for draws, results and other useful information such as the location of the event, stadium map, etc.

Technorati Tags: tennis, atp, serbia

Forget the images of the war-torn 90s: today’s Belgrade is welcoming, exciting and diverse. Spend a few days here and you’ll promise never to believe the stereotypes again.

A nice article about Belgrade was published in yesterday’s issue of The Observer. Written by BBC’s Balkans correspondent Mark Lowen, the article is filled with suggestions of where to stay, places to visit, walking routes to take, where to eat like a local.

Read the full article

In it’s new “1000 Ultimate Experiences” travel guide, Lonely Planet has listed Belgrade as the top pick for a partying destination. What follows is an excerpt from the Reuters article:

Looking to tread terrain still untouched by foreign stag expeditions? Want to unwind in luxury or drink up the sun? Lonely Planet lists the world’s top 10 party cities in its new guide, the “1000 Ultimate Experiences”

The long years of bad press that kept Serbia off the map have now passed, and foreigners are now realizing what locals always knew – that Belgrade really rocks. With an exuberant population and its legacy as an intellectual hangout, Belgrade offers varied nightlife, ranging from eclectic watering holes for those in the know, to the busy restaurants and bars of the Skadarlija district and the summer clubs in barges on the Sava and Danube Rivers.

You can buy the “1000 Ultimate Experiences” book from Amazon:

The Serbia Open ATP tennis tournament will be held in Belgrade from 4th to 10th of May. The event will be held for the first time in 2009, it is a first one for Serbia, as it never before hosted an ATP or a WTA tournament. The tournament will take place at the newly open “Milan Gale MuÅ¡katirović” (MGM) tennis fields in Dorćol (TadeuÅ¡a KošćuÅ¡ka 63).

A new article about Belgrade’s nightlife has been published on Times Online, which includes recommendations for some good night clubs, bars and restaurants as seen by a UK visitor.

Belgrade has been placed side by side with Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Milan and New York in the Times’ Nightlife guide to six party cities. Check it out if you’re in town and need suggestions on how to get a quick glimpse of the Belgrade nightlife.

The XXV Universiade will be held in Belgrade July 1st – July 12th 2009. Besides the Olympic games Universiade is the biggest sport event that can be organized in a selected city. Universiades are held every two years. More than 12000 participants are expected from 170 countries. They will take part in 21 sports and 300 disciplines.

Official site of the Universiade Belgrade 2009

Technorati Tags: Universiade, Belgrade

The first world tamburitza (Serbian: “tamburica”) festival will be held June 27th-29th in the village of Deronje close to Odžaci in western Vojvodina. Tamburica is a string instrument, smaller than a guitar, popular in Vojvodina and Slavonija.

Admirers, followers and fans of tamburitza music will have the opportunity and pleasure to enjoy the sound of tamburitza music during the three day festival. During the informal part of the program, fans of this instrument will have the opportunity to enjoy tamburitza music day and night in the surrounding restaurants. This way visitors will have the opportunity to choose an orchestra which will play as they desire.

At the final night of the Festival, six best orchestras will play at the competition for the festival awards, where performances of all participants will be evaluated by a professional jury.

Besides music, as a basis of the Festival program, many accompanying cultural events are scheduled:

1. Professional gathering of ethno musicologists devoted to tamburitza music
2. Tamburitza Exhibition
3. Meeting of Restorers and Makers of Tamburitzas
4. Art Colony Exhibition
5. Hackney-Carriages Parade
6. Old Timer’s Rally Race from Novi Sad to Deronje
7. Aero Meeting above the Village
8. Regatta of Boats, Starting in Belgrade
9. Welcoming of the Train „Romantika“ Arriving from Belgrade
10. Folklore and Competition in Stew Cooking

For more information visit the Festival’s official site.

Technorati Tags: Tamburica Fest, Tamburica, Tamburitza, Deronje, Vojvodina