Under the slogan "Spread Love", this year's Budva Carnival will be held from April 30 to May 4, the Budva Tourist Organization announced.
"The Great Carnival Parade alone, which will take place on Saturday, May 3, will gather more than 2.500 participants from numerous world carnival centers such as: Rijeka, Pernik, Vrnjačka Banja, Bela Crkva, Venice, Kavadarci, Ptuj, but also from other cities in the country, region and the world," the organization announced.
"For more than two decades, the carnival in Budva has been gaining increasing popularity and attention from visitors from all over the world every year, and the Tourist Organization of the Municipality of Budva, the Municipality of Budva and the NGO 'Feštađuni' have a challenging task to step outside the framework of what has already been seen and organize a better, more luxurious and more imaginative program," the statement said.
This year's carnival program begins on Wednesday, April 30th at 14 p.m., when a parade is planned along Petrovac, Pržno, Sveti Stefan, and Rafailovići.
"Abrum or the invitation to the carnival, as a unique event that takes place only in Budva, is the most memorable part of the carnival days. The performance of masked Festađuna who invite the citizens and guests of Budva to join the festivities while they welcome them with song, dance, laughter and a wide range of coastal food and drinks, is definitely an authentic experience for all participants and attendees. Abrum through the Old Town will be held traditionally on Friday, May 2nd at 20 pm, when the citizens of Stari Grad and their guests will join the masked game," said the Budva Tourist Office.
Labor Day, May 1st, and the following two days are scheduled for a musical program in the evening hours that will take place at several locations in the Old Town area, on Painters' Square, the plateau below the Citadel, and Palm Square.
During the three days of the music program, different musical genres will alternate, such as pop, rock, hip-hop, and various directions of electronic music, according to the Carnival announcement.
On Thursday, May 1st, Bodziee, PS will perform on the plateau below the Citadel, the star of the evening will be Egyptian DJ Raxon, and local support will be provided by DJ Burkakke.
The following day, May 2, the local band Radio Katakomba, Jack Lupino, DJ John K and Tam will perform on the plateau below the Citadel. On the same evening, representatives of the Montenegrin pop-rock scene, the bands “Milky Wave” and “Fankulo”, will perform on the live stage at Trg Palmi.
The central event of the Budva Carnival, the Great Carnival Parade, will begin on May 3rd at 20 pm, and more than 70 carnival groups will parade through Budva from the "Bracera" hotel to the square in front of the Old Town, where they will present their messages this year through a short performance.
"On the same evening, as part of the musical part of the program, the most eminent representatives of the Belgrade club scene, representatives of the clubs 'Lift' and 'Karmakoma', will perform on the plateau below the Citadel. The audience can expect two B2B performances, by Aleksandra Duende and Iva Arifaj, as well as a performance by the duo consisting of Nikola Vemić and Sacha Mambo, with local support from DJ Starac. Eliza Stark and the local band 'Priganitze' will perform on the live stage at Trg Palmi on May 3rd," the statement reads.
The program of the 22nd International Budva Carnival ends with a small carnival parade on Sunday, May 4th, which this year includes more than 200 children from different cities in Montenegro and Serbia.
"From 16 p.m., costumed children will parade from the city kindergarten 'Ljubica Jovanović - Maše' to the square in front of the Old Town, where they will present their acts, and to their great joy, as well as that of the youngest visitors present, a large masquerade show will follow. The event that marks spring in Budva will be enriched and embellished with a large fireworks display, when the message 'Let's spread love!' will be sent from Budva," said the Budva Tourist Office.
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