Barbecue Festival in Leskovac | Tourist Calendar of Serbia

When we talk about the first association with a city, for Leskovac it is certainly barbecue. That is also the reason why every year at the end of August, the famous Leskovac Barbecue Festival is held in the city center, a gastronomic event dedicated to the preparation and enjoyment of barbecue specialties.

The idea of ​​starting such an event was born in the 60s, but it took more than two decades for it to establish itself as a tradition. Since 1990, when the Tourist Organization of Leskovac became the sponsor and organizer of the Barbecue Festival, this event has been held every year, much to the delight of gourmets from all over Serbia and the region. For over 30 years, the people of Leskovac cannot go through the summer without the smell of barbecue spreading through the city.

The largest event of this kind in Southeast Europe is visited by around half a million guests every year. The record number of visitors was set in 2015 when about 700,000 people flocked to Leskovac for the Barbecue Festival, consuming about 70 tons of meat in just one week, the duration of this event.

The main offer at the Barbecue Festival consists of pljeskavica (hamburger patties), ćevapi (grilled minced meat rolls), and sausages, but with the participation of gourmets from other parts of Serbia, the offer has expanded over time to various types of grilled dishes. One of the main symbols and a kind of brand of the Barbecue Festival is the popular "Leskovac train" - a meal composed of "cars" with various barbecue specialties.

In the city in southern Serbia, no celebration can pass without trumpeters and traditional čoček dance, but the performances of famous singers and bands on the main stage are also an integral part of the event. Souvenirs with traditional motifs from southern Serbia, available at authentic ethnic stalls, are also an essential part of this festival.

The competitive part of the Barbecue Festival includes participants competing in four categories: large pljeskavica, a competition for students of secondary catering schools, "hand-shaped pljeskavica," and a competition for barbecue masters.

The people of Leskovac hold the world record for a pljeskavica weighing 60 kilograms, and they skillfully break it year after year. Of course, this complex endeavor involves teams of several people, and besides the size of the pljeskavica, its quality is also evaluated. According to the masters, the original Leskovac pljeskavica must be made of beef, with two percent salt and obligatory black onion. It is important for the meat to be ground coarsely at first, and then left to rest for 12 to 24 hours before grinding it again, this time finely. Then the meat is left to "rest" a little more before being placed on the "skara," as the people of Leskovac call the grill.

The Barbecue Festival also features a competition for students of secondary catering schools from all over Serbia, promoting the most talented students of culinary courses and future barbecue masters.

"Hand-shaped pljeskavica" is a particularly demanding discipline in which a barbecue master shapes the pljeskavica with their hands, and its average weight is three kilograms. Since 2019, women have also participated in this category for the first time.

The competition for barbecue masters is judged by the strictest criteria, and participants from both the country and abroad take part in it, with only neighbors from neighboring Bulgaria daring to compete against the people of Leskovac so far.

The master competition is named after Miodrag Gligorijević, known in Leskovac as "Dragi Bure," in memory of probably the most famous representative of the Leskovac barbecue school. It is recorded in his biography that he prepared barbecue for Josip Broz.

This year's Leskovac Barbecue Festival will be held from August 21 to 27. More details about the event can be found on the official website of the Barbecue Festival.