What's on in Niš, Serbia through the year

Busy — Orthodox Christmas and New Year, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Orthodox Christmas and New Year

  6–14 JanChristmas & New YearClosures

  On the evening of 6 January oak branches, the badnjak, are burned outside churches before crowds; 7 January is a public holiday when many businesses close. A week later, on the night of 13 January, Serbian New Year is seen in with concerts and fireworks. Source ↗

Still on: Winter heating smog (1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Winter heating smog (1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Busy — Orthodox Easter, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Orthodox Easter

  10–13 AprEaster & Holy WeekClosures

  Good Friday to Easter Monday are public holidays. Churches fill for the midnight service, painted eggs are knocked together at family tables, and many shops, offices and restaurants close or keep short hours. Source ↗

Peak crowds — May Day holidays, City feast of Constantine and Helena

• Holiday

  May Day holidays

  1–2 MayNational holidayClosures

  1 and 2 May are public holidays, and Serbs head out of town for barbecues by rivers, in parks and in the countryside. Offices and many shops close, and city centres are quiet. Source ↗

• Festival

  City feast of Constantine and Helena

  30 May – 5 Jun · usuallyReligious feastCrowded

  Nis, Constantine's birthplace, celebrates its patron saints on 3 June with a week of church services, folk ensembles, concerts and sports around the fortress and centre. Source ↗

Still on: Orthodox Easter (10–13 Apr)

Busy — City feast of Constantine and Helena, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: City feast of Constantine and Helena (30 May – 5 Jun (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Inland summer heat

  1 Jul – 25 Aug · usuallyExtreme heat

  Nis sits in a basin well away from any sea and July and August afternoons are brutal in it, which is why nothing happens between two and six. Evenings on the riverside are the compensation.

Peak crowds — Nisville Jazz Festival, Film Encounters, Nis Fortress

• Festival

  Nisville Jazz Festival

  13–16 AugMusic festivalCrowdedBook early

  Four August nights inside the Ottoman fortress with several stages running at once, jazz stretched to take in brass bands, blues and Balkan rock. It is the one week the city is genuinely full. Source ↗

• Festival

  Film Encounters, Nis Fortress

  20 Aug – 2 Sep · usuallyFilm festivalCrowded

  Serbia's oldest film festival, devoted to screen acting, fills the big open-air stage inside the fortress for a week at the end of August. The country's best-known actors turn up and evening screenings are packed. Source ↗

Still on: Inland summer heat (1 Jul – 25 Aug (usually))

Busy — Film Encounters, Nis Fortress, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Film Encounters, Nis Fortress (20 Aug – 2 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Quiet — school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Hazard

  Winter heating smog

  1 Dec – 28 Feb · usuallyWinter smog

  The same basin that traps the summer heat traps coal smoke from December to February, and the readings go from ordinary to genuinely unhealthy. Worth knowing if anyone in the party has a chest. Source ↗