DRINA REGATTA
The Drina Regatta is the oldest and most massive event on the Drina River, which has been organized in Bajina Basta for a quarter of a century. The first Drina Regatta was held in July 1994. and since then, this event has been held every third week in July. It is held in memory of the ancient Drina rafters and represents a combination of tradition and modern tourist trends. This unique carnival on the water, along with a large number of other content, is one of the largest tourist events in Serbia and the largest event on the water in this part of Europe. The Drina Regatta, in addition to the large descent down the Drina River, also includes numerous accompanying events that attract over 100,000 visitors to Bajina Basta every year in July.
In 2016. the Drina regatta was awarded with two of the most important awards in tourism in Serbia, so it was officially crowned as the best Serbian tourist event. On World Tourism Day, Drina Regatta was awarded “Tourist Flower 2016” for the best tourist event in Serbia by the Tourist Organization of Serbia, and “Best from Serbia 2016” by the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications for the best tourist event in operation. promotion of Serbia. This award is particularly significant because the evaluation criteria included objective parameters such as the number of visitors, tradition and good organization, as well as the evaluations of the eminent expert jury and, what is especially important, the votes of the event’s visitors.
From 20th anniversary Drina Regatta program is set to last for five days, from Wednesday to Sunday, and the big descent down the Drina is traditionally always on Saturday. A fair of honey, brandy, souvenirs and homemade crafts is held in the center of Bajina Basta for all days of the event. On the first days of the event, concerts are held in the city center featuring performers of folk or pop music. On Thursdays in Perucac, there is a traditional competition in preparing fish soup, which is held by the river Vrelo and gathers a large number of visitors who mingle, listen music, drink and prepare fish soup. On Fridays, dive jumping from the bridge into the Drina river is held, where the bravest divers from all over the Balkans compete in front of thousands of visitors.
The central part of the event is the happy descent down the Drina river from Perucac to Rogacica, which is always on Saturdays, and the kilometer-long descent starts below the Hydro power plant at exactly 11 A.M. Due to the huge crowds at the Regatta start, it is necessary to leave for Perucac at least a couple of hours earlier. The Regatta is always officially opened by one of the famous public figures or the highest state officials.
PHOTO GALLERY
THE MOST FAMOUS EVENT ON THE DRINA RIVER
DRINAREGATTA
The Drina Regatta is extremely well covered by the media, and all national media houses, as well as all daily newspapers, numerous regional televisions and a huge number of portals that stream videos and live reports from the Drina Regatta.
