Belgrade in December 2026: Christmas Markets, Ice Rinks and Events

Winter Fairytale (Zimska bajka), Belgrade Waterfront. This market is in Savski park, next to the Sava Promenada. The 2025 edition opened with a lights ceremony and a concert on 5 December at 17:00 and ran every day from 12:00 to 22:00 until 5 January. Entry was free. The site had a large ice rink with separate areas for beginners and confident skaters, an outdoor winter cinema and food stalls. N1's reporter wrote that it looked most like the Christmas markets admired across Europe. The 2025 dates were announced on 18 November, so expect the 2026 programme around mid-November on zimskabajka.rs.

Zemunska bajka, Zemun. Zemun runs a market of its own, with a rink and stalls where mulled wine and mulled gin are the best sellers. It is easy to combine with our Zemun walking guide. In December 2025 the market's own "Zemunsko lonče" mug cost 600 RSD empty or 800 RSD filled with mulled wine, and a hot chocolate 320 RSD.

New Year Fair, Belgrade Fair. The 64th New Year Fair (Novogodišnji vašar) runs from 11 to 30 December 2026 at the Belgrade Fair. It is an indoor shopping and entertainment fair for adults and children, and unlike the open-air markets it needs a ticket.

Holiday bazaars. Belgrade's markets and cultural centres add short bazaars before New Year. In 2025 Beogradske pijace ran a New Year bazaar at Zeleni Venac market from 26 to 31 December (08:00 to 16:00), and stalls and wooden cabins selling local food and drink stood in front of the National Assembly. In 2024 the Silosi cultural centre in Dorćol held a two-day night bazaar on 21 and 22 December.

The open-air rinks are part of the markets and follow the same dates:

• Winter Fairytale, Belgrade Waterfront: a large rink with a separate area for beginners, 799 RSD for 45 minutes in December 2025.
• Zemunska bajka: about 200 RSD cheaper per session than Belgrade Waterfront in December 2025.
• Čarobna zima, in front of the Belgrade Arena in New Belgrade: an ice rink, a panoramic wheel and food stalls, open until 25 January in the 2025/26 season.

Beogradska zima (Belgrade Winter) is the City of Belgrade's free programme over the holidays. In 2025/26 it ran from 25 December to the end of January with more than 150 events on Republic Square, in Tašmajdan Park, in Park vojvode Vuka and on the plateau in front of the Temple of Saint Sava. Most of it is for families: holiday corners for children, workshops, music and theatre, and visits from Deda Mraz, the Serbian Father Frost. It also covers the Orthodox holidays, with the traditional breaking of the česnica, the Christmas bread, on the Saint Sava plateau, and "Christmas at the Princess's" on 5 January 2026 at the Residence of Princess Ljubica. Our guide to Orthodox Christmas and Serbian New Year covers those days.

December has a full concert calendar. Events already on our list include:

• Amira Medunjanin, Sava Centar, 4 December, and Emeli Sandé, Sava Centar, 5 December.
• Science Festival Belgrade at the Belgrade Fair from 11 December.
• Lang Lang Gala Concert, Sava Centar, 13 December.
• SMAK, Štark Arena, 16 December.
• The Nutcracker, Sava Centar, and Nazareth, MTS Dvorana, both on 20 December.
• Međa, the gala concert of the National Ensemble Kolo, Sava Centar, 22 December.
• Belgrade Philharmonic New Year's Concert at the Kolarac Endowment on 24 December, repeated on 25 December.
• New Year's Mrazaton on 27 December on the Sava Promenada, a 5 km and 10 km run in Santa suits.
• EuroLeague basketball: Partizan vs Barcelona on 11 December, Crvena zvezda vs Beşiktaş on 18 December and Crvena zvezda vs Baskonia on 23 December.

See the full list on our December 2026 events page. For the last night of the year, read our New Year's Eve guide.

• 19 December (Saturday in 2026): Nikoljdan, Saint Nicholas, the most common slava, a family patron saint's day. Families who celebrate it host guests at home. Our guide to slava explains the custom.
• 24 and 25 December: normal working days. Western Christmas is a religious holiday for Western Christians, not a public holiday.
• 31 December (Thursday in 2026): a normal working day.
• 1 and 2 January 2027: public holidays, with offices and banks closed.
• 7 January 2027: Orthodox Christmas, a public holiday.

December is cold and often grey, and snow is possible. Our best time to visit guide covers the weather and what to pack.

• B92: Winter Fairytale at Belgrade Waterfront, 5 December to 5 January (18 November 2025)
• N1: the Christmas markets in Zemun and at Belgrade Waterfront, with prices (25 December 2025)
• Belgrade Fair: 64th New Year Fair, 11 to 30 December 2026
• B92 (Tanjug): Belgrade Winter 2025/26, bazaars and rinks (31 December 2025)
• Insajder (Tanjug): holiday bazaar in front of the National Assembly (31 December 2025)
• Novosti: Belgrade Winter 2024/25 and the Silosi night bazaar (21 December 2024)
• Wikipedia: public holidays in Serbia