Mimosa Festival

No list of the most famous festivals in Montenegro could skip the Mimosa Festival. The Mimosa Festival, which takes place in the picturesque port city of Herceg Novi each March, commemorates the beginning of spring after the gloomy days of winter. The celebration, which is named for the yellow Mimosa flower, one of the first to blossom in the spring, attracts hundreds of locals and tourists each year.

A crew of volunteers picks around 10,000 mimosa flowers for the event and arranges them in bouquets before distributing them throughout the city. A parade marches through the streets of the town during the festival, with musicians and dancers adding to the festivities, while vendors set up tents and dish out free fried fish, wine, and mimosa flowers. People gather in the town plaza after the procession to dance to live music while their children participate in a variety of exciting, family-friendly activities. Finally, a large papier-mache building representing the year's evils is ceremonially burnt in the local marina to signal new hope.

When: March

Where: Herceg Novi