Guča: The Best Festival You’ve Never Heard of Before
Guča, a free-to-attend trumpet festival featuring Balkan brass music in Serbia, is perhaps the most fun and crazy music festival in the world to visit.
In this article, I recount my own experience visiting this unique Serbian music festival and provide information on how you can attend it.
About the Guča Festival
Guča (pronounced goo-tsha) is the largest trumpet festival in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of people from all over the Balkans and beyond each year to this small village in the Serbian countryside.
If you love Balkan beats or brass music in general, Guča is a must-visit festival, and its unique setting and crazy, fun-loving vibe will undoubtedly captivate you.
The great thing about it all is that Guča is completely free to attend and still full of tradition and local flavour.
Whereas Serbia’s better-known Exit Festival in Novi Sad is just like any other big international music festival in Europe such as Sziget, Tomorrowland, or Glastonbury, you will really feel like you have stumbled upon something undiscovered and unique when visiting Guča.
There is no commercialism at Guča, and given that the great majority of visitors are from Serbia and other Balkan countries, you can still absorb the local culture and actually make new friends with people who are from the region.
While the major summer festivals in Europe might all feel alike, having visitors predominantly from Western European countries and playing the same mainstream music, Guča is still in essence a true Serbian festival intrinsically linked to the national psyche.
Arriving in Guča
The Guča Festival is held annually, usually over a long weekend in early or mid-August.
During most of the year, Guča is a sleepy village with around 2,000 inhabitants, but during the festival, up to 600,000 people make their way to this small place in the Serbian hills.
As you drive down the hills into Guča, you can already see the smoke from hundreds of grills blanketing the valley.
Along the small river, thousands of people have already set up their tents on a basic campground.
Inside the village streets, you will find hundreds of market stalls selling food, handicrafts, records, t-shirts, and other souvenirs.
Festival schedule
The Guča Festival spans three days, during which numerous scheduled and impromptu gigs and performances will take place throughout the entire village.
The main festival stage is situated inside the village stadium, where the opening concert will take place on Friday evening, along with performances by several headline trumpet players, brass bands, and other musicians on Saturday.
On Sunday, the stadium hosts the prestigious Guča competition, where the best trumpet player and brass bands of the year will be selected.
In the months leading up to Guča, the festival jury will have already eliminated hundreds of contenders, narrowing the selection down to a couple of dozen trumpet players and brass bands who compete on the final day of the festival, with each contender being allowed to play three songs.
Winners are eventually selected in several categories such as best trumpet player and best brass band, with some chosen by the jury and others through popular vote among all festival attendees.
Village life
If you think that Guča revolves solely around the headline acts performing in the stadium and the Sunday trumpet competition, you are mistaken, as the festival offers much more than that.
Throughout the day, brass bands roam the streets of Guča, playing their music for passersby and festivalgoers sitting down at the cafés and restaurants inside the village.
This often leads to spontaneous cheering and dancing in the village streets, which I think actually makes for one of the most fun aspects of the entire Guča Festival.
Many of these brass bands consist of Romani people, who are renowned for their musical talent throughout the Balkans.
Some of these bands are hobbyist in nature, while others are highly skilled professionals who earn a good living by performing at baptisms, weddings, family patron saint celebrations (called a slava), and other festivals.
Indeed, for these bands, performing in the streets of Guča is a means to earn tips or gain exposure to potential clients seeking to hire a brass band.
The Guča Festival jury also takes note, often honouring the best amateur performers with the opportunity to perform inside the stadium.
Music
Over the years, the Guča Festival has featured performances by several internationally renowned brass bands, trumpetists, and other musicians, alongside artists whose names will probably not ring a bell, unless you are an expert in Serbian music.
However, names such as Goran Bregović, Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra, as well as Guča legend Boban Marković, who have all performed multiple times at the festival, are certainly more widely known internationally.
The brass music played at the Guča Festival encompasses a wide range of traditional tunes, from slower-paced čočeks with their steady beat, rooted in Ottoman military marching music, to fast and frivolous melodies that originate from Gypsy (Roma) music.
Sometimes, there are even artists invited to perform at Guča who were inspired by Balkan brass music, but don’t really fall into the same genre – think for example about Shantel or Gogol Bordello.
During my visit to the Guča Festival, Shantel was one of the headline acts, and he played an absolute killer set that evening, sending the entire crowd wild.
Here are a few YouTube videos that will give you a better idea of the kind of brass band and trumpet music played at the Guča Festival.
Dancing
Visiting the Guča Festival isn’t just about enjoying the great music but also dancing to it.
During most brass band songs, professional dancers dressed in traditional Serbian outfits perform national folk dances on stage.
Festivalgoers in the streets or in the stadium will also join in, with complete strangers spontaneously joining hands to perform what is called a ‘kolo’ (traditional circle dance) in the crowd.
Of course, there are also many people simply dancing or nodding along to the beat alone, as it’s completely up to you how you want to enjoy the music.
Food and drinks at Guča
At Guča, you certainly won’t go hungry, although it’s best not to be a vegetarian (let alone a vegan!) if you plan to visit this Serbian festival!
Throughout Guča, there are dozens of outdoor grills where you can order eternal Balkan favourites such as cevapi (grilled minced meat sausages) and pljeskavica (spiced Serbian-style hamburger).
Indeed, it’s all about grilled meat in the Serbian countryside, and you might have to search a bit to find appealing vegetarian options at a food stall or local restaurant.
Bigger friend groups visiting Guča often pre-order an entire grilled suckling pig, a local delicacy, which is brought to their accommodation or campsite still on the spit, where it is carved and shared among all group members.
The prices for food at Guča are extremely reasonable (and even highly affordable if you come from Western Europe), costing just a little more than what you would normally pay in a small Serbian town.
The same goes for drinks, as you can buy half a litre of beer in the village streets or stadium for just a few euros.
Whether you go for a local Jelen beer or some shots of rakija (the highly potent Balkan firewater made from fermented and distilled fruit), you won’t break the bank to get into the party mood!
If you want to get away from the madness of Guča, there are several appealing outdoor cafés a short walk away in the surrounding hills to recharge your batteries.
How to get to Guča
If you are an international visitor heading to Guča, it is easiest to travel first to Belgrade, with Niš being an alternative entry point into Serbia.
Especially Belgrade is well-connected by air to almost every major city in Europe, with airlines such as Air Serbia and low-cost carriers like Wizz Air.
From Belgrade or Niš, you can take a bus to the city of Čačak, where you will need to transfer to another bus to reach the village of Guča – a journey which will take 5 to 6 hours in total.
However, the easiest way to reach Guča and the festival grounds is by car, whether that means driving your own car, renting a vehicle in a city like Belgrade or Niš, or arranging a private transfer.
Accommodation in Guča
As Guča is a small village, there are only a handful of local hotels and guesthouses, most of which are fully booked months in advance during the festival.
Therefore, most people choose to camp, either at the festival campground in the village of Guča or at campsites in the surrounding area.
Another option is to rent a room or even an entire house in the village, with the latter being a popular choice among groups.
Indeed, some village houses are specifically built to rent out during the festival weekend, with only the kitchen and bathroom furnished and guests sleeping in empty rooms on mattresses and sleeping bags they bring themselves!
Conclusion
Guča, a trumpet and brass music festival in Serbia, is one of the most crazy and fun festivals you can attend in Europe.
The festival takes place over a long summer weekend throughout the village of Guča, with bands playing in the village streets during the day and headline acts performing in the local stadium in the evening, drawing wild crowds.
What makes Guča great is its rich local tradition and its happy, fun-loving vibe.
The Guča Festival is free to attend, devoid of commercialism, and attracts a mostly local Serbian crowd, thus maintaining its authentic character.
If you are a fan of Balkan beats, whether it’s the internationally renowned music of Goran Bregović or more traditional brass music, you will love Guča.
However, even those who aren’t particularly fans of brass band music often leave impressed after visiting Guča, as there is something about the spontaneous dancing in the village streets and impromptu parties that appeals to a wider audience.
If you are looking for a fun local festival to visit during summer in Europe that’s still undiscovered and authentic, look no further than Serbia’s Guča Festival!
Explore some other destinations with us!
In our trip report section, you can find multiple reports of holidays across the world which could give you some inspiration for your next trip.
These trip reports include destination guides as well as reviews of hotels, airlines and other modes of transport.
Our last two featured articles highlighted the unique story of a heroic Greek granny known as the Lady of Ro, and a visit to the paradise island of Santo Antão in Cape Verde.
Make sure you subscribe to our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages in order to receive instant Paliparan updates when a new travel article or flight deal is posted!
Koen, this was a fantastic read! Thank you for capturing the spirit and excitement of the Guča Festival so vividly. Your detailed descriptions truly transported me to the heart of Serbia, making me feel like I was part of the celebration. The blend of tradition, music, and community sounds absolutely magical. I appreciate you sharing your experience and providing such useful tips for those of us inspired to attend. I’m definitely adding this to my bucket list. Thanks again, Koen! – Jaseph
Hey Koen,
I attended the festival this year, travelling from the UK and not knowing what to expect. Needless to say I’ve already tried to create my own Serbian food at home and haven’t stopped listening to various Balkan trumpet band playlists since! Absolutely incredible experience, I hope to go back again.
We rented a car so we also visited the nearby town of Cacak, as well as Oscar Kablar Gorge to climb up a very steep mountain to a monastery, as well as visiting the very cool (literally) Stopica caves.
The people and the countryside are as wonderful as the food and the music.