Fishy Happenings on the Danube

| 26 June 2009 | By David Galic

The “Days of the Danube” has been going on for most of the month on the shores of the river, and it will culminate this weekend with Fish Fest 2009 on the Dorcol riverside.

The event will be held on the river next to Nebojsa’s Tower, located across the street from the lower level of the Kalemegdan fortress complex. From Friday to Sunday, visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of entertainment and music, but most importantly, Serbian seafood cuisine.

There will be chefs not only from Serbia, but also Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany and Hungary all preparing fish specialties that will be available for fest visitors to try.

Fish stew, or “riblja corba,” is one of the most popular and authentic Serbian dishes, and riverside restaurants, especially on the other shore of the river in Zemun, pride themselves in making the best fish stew to be found anywhere. To prove their cooking skills, there are competitions and taste tests held every year, usually on the Zemun Quay, and thousands visit to get a taste of the best soups and stews.

The crowning competition this summer, will be held at the Fish Fest.

On the first night of the fest, specialties from the Dalmatian region of Croatia will be on the menu, followed on Saturday with competitions pitting celebrities, including actors, singers and popular journalists and their favourite recipes against each other, for the people and judges to taste test.

The final cook-off is on Sunday, where chefs will compete for pride and a fair bit of cash, to prove who makes the best fish stew in the city.

To accompany all that food is an excellent musical program. Entertainer Ljubisa Stojanovic, know to most as Luis, who is, he says, also an expert fisherman and who is known for his energetic combination of Balkan folk, world music and jazz, will be the headline act on Friday night. On Saturday there will be a band of tambura players from Novi Sad playing “starogradska” or old city music, the most popular form of urban folk music with roots deep in history. A brass band will set off the final Sunday night competition and play long into the night for visitors enjoying a dish of spicy fish stew.

There will also be boat trips and buses organised from New Belgrade and Zemun for people who want to visit the Fish Fest, and an auction of paintings with themes related to the river, the proceeds from which will all go to helping people with disabilities.

If you love traditional Serbian food, and want to taste the fish stew, while enjoying great traditional music and a pleasant riverside ambience, Fish Fest is the only place you need to be this weekend.