Festivities usher in New Year across Serbia

The outdoor festivities in the Serbian capital were organized in the central Republic Square where the crowd gathered around a stage to hear a young generation of performers and at the Belgrade Waterfront neighborhood. The city government decided against fireworks this year but there was a huge display on the banks of the Sava river for the crowd at the Belgrade Waterfront accompanied by a light show across the local tower.

The New Year in Serbia is traditionally celebrated in restaurants or parties in homes and clubs and it is always a louder and more colorful event than Christmas which the Serbian Orthodox Church celebrates on January 7 based on the Julian calendar. Fireworks are also a must for New Year but this year a large number of local authorities have decided against them, mainly because of the mass shooting in May and chose to give the money to charities instead.

The crowds in Belgrade, Novi Sad and other cities included a number of foreign nationals and Serbians living abroad who come to the country to party. Large numbers of Slovenians have traditionally come to Belgrade in the years after the breakup of Yugoslavia.

The weather was mild with no extreme cold attracting crowds to outdoor events.

The Beta news agency quoted police sources who said there were not major incidents on New Year’s eve in Belgrade.

In Novi Sad, crowds of young people came to hear and see several Serbian bands and performers on stages just below the Petrovaradin fortress.