EXPO 2027 Belgrade: The Complete Visitor Guide (Dates, Tickets, Travel)

An Expo is a world exhibition held under the rules of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris. Countries and international organisations build or rent pavilions, run cultural programmes and hold a national day, all around one shared theme.

Belgrade's event is a Specialised Expo. That is the smaller of the two main Expo formats: it has a single focused theme, lasts up to three months and takes place between the larger World Expos. The official name is "Specialised Exhibition Expo 2027 Belgrade", and the brand you will see everywhere is EXPO 2027 Belgrade.

Serbia submitted its bid on 28 July 2021 and Belgrade was elected host at the BIE General Assembly on 21 June 2023. The organiser describes it as the first Expo of this scale in the Western Balkans, and it is the first world exhibition held anywhere in the former Yugoslavia.

The event is run by EXPO 2027 d.o.o. Beograd, a state company led by director Danilo Jerinić. The mascots, Rastko and Milica, were chosen by public vote in 2025, and the official ambassadors are Usain Bolt, Jackie Chan and Lin Dan.

Dates

The Expo opens on 15 May 2027 and closes on 15 August 2027, a run of 93 days that covers late spring and the whole of early summer. Daily opening hours have not been published yet. If you are deciding when to come, our guide to the best time to visit Belgrade covers the weather and the city's summer rhythm.

Theme

The theme is "Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All" (in Serbian, "Igra(j) za čovečanstvo"). The idea is that play, in the form of sport and music, is something shared by every culture and can be a tool for health, progress and peace.

Sub-themes and programme tracks

The theme splits into three sub-themes:

• Power of Play: healing and sustainability.
• Play for Progress: innovation and imagination.
• Play Together: an active society and peace-building.

The programme runs on four tracks: cultural, business, educational and sport. Reports citing the organisers put the total at more than 8,000 events over the 93 days. The official programme page lists music series such as Musical Highlights, "Toys Can Play", "Instruments of Play", "Sonic Pioneers", "Play Together" concerts and "World Stage", plus theatre, open-air cinema, visual arts and poetry.

Each participating country is expected to have a national day, which is standard practice at Expos, and a tender for a temporary National Days stage has been published. No dated concerts, headliners or opening ceremony details have been announced.

The Expo site is in the municipality of Surčin, in south-west Belgrade, right next to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport and close to the Sava river. Media and planning sources put it at roughly 15 km from the city centre and about 5 km from the airport. It is not in the historic centre, so plan your day around the journey out and back.

How big is the site?

You will see very different numbers for the size, because they measure different things:

• 25 hectares: the exhibition grounds, which is the maximum the BIE allows for a Specialised Expo.
• 83.1 and 113 hectares: in the planning documents, 83.1 ha is the exhibition unit and 113 ha the whole exhibition complex, including accommodation and commercial plots.
• About 167 hectares: the complex together with the new National Stadium.

For a visitor, the 25 ha figure is the one that matters: it is the area you will walk around.

What about the National Stadium?

A 52,000-seat National Stadium is being built next to the site. Construction started on 1 May 2024 with a December 2026 deadline, but reporting from July 2026 says it will not be finished for the Expo. Completion is now expected in early 2028, and work is set to pause from mid-May to mid-August 2027. No official source says any Expo event will take place inside the stadium.

The official project cost is an estimated €1.29 billion, including the grounds, an aquatic centre, the rail link, roads and utilities. After the Expo, the organiser plans to reuse the whole site as a new fairground, a museum, schools, kindergartens, sports halls and around 1,500 homes. We cover the zones, the stadium and the legacy plans in detail in Inside the Expo 2027 site.

As of September 2026, the official participants page says more than 140 international participants have confirmed, with more to come. Other pages on the official site still show older counts (139 countries, or 135 countries plus 6 international organisations), because they were updated at different times. The number has grown steadily, from 118 in July 2025 to 137 in March 2026.

The organiser says this beats the 115 countries at Astana 2017, which would make it a record for a Specialised Expo. Confirmed participants include China, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, South Korea, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Greece and Russia, along with many Pacific and Caribbean states. Slovakia signed the first participation contract in November 2025, and Slovenia signed in September 2026.

The Serbian House

Serbia's own presence is the Serbian House in Zone E, a pavilion where Serbian regions and municipalities present their culture, tourism, food and investment opportunities. Zone E is the only zone name the organiser has confirmed so far; detailed maps of the pavilion areas have not been published.

Ticket prices have not been announced. The official site has no tickets page yet, and its FAQ says nothing about tickets.

What we do know comes from the ticket-printing contract. According to N1, the state printing works will produce 1,000,000 one-day tickets, 200,000 three-day tickets and 800,000 blank forms for physical sales points and box offices. The tickets will carry a watermark, a hologram, a QR code and UV elements. So one-day and three-day tickets are planned, and there will be places to buy in person as well as online.

The tender behind that contract said sales should start on 15 September 2026. As of 22 September 2026, we have found no official announcement that sales have opened. Season passes, family tickets and discounts have not been mentioned by any official source.

Buy only through the official site, expobelgrade2027.org. Several lookalike websites with "expo" and "2027" in their names are unofficial guides, not ticket sellers. Our Expo 2027 tickets guide tracks the sale status and will list prices as soon as they are published.

The new railway

The main public transport link will be a new 18.3 km electrified railway from Zemun Polje to the Expo, with five stations: Zemun Polje, Singidunum (near Dobanovci), Nikola Tesla Airport (500 m from Terminal 1, connected by a pedestrian bridge), Surčin and National Stadium/EXPO. The announced journey times are 15–20 minutes from Zemun Polje and about 30 minutes from Prokop station in the city. Trains are planned every 30 minutes normally and every 15 minutes at peak times and during the Expo.

The line is still under construction. Earlier statements promised it by the end of 2026; newer ones say testing from January or February 2027 and operation in spring 2027. Treat it as planned until it opens.

Electric buses

Belgrade has ordered 100 electric buses for the Expo. The plan includes a shuttle from the National Stadium rail station to the Expo grounds (1.4 km) and a direct line from Block 45 in New Belgrade. Visitor routes, timetables and fares have not been published. After the Expo, the buses go to the city operator GSP.

What will not be ready

The Belgrade Metro will not be running for the Expo. Its first line has been delayed to 2028 at the earliest, and more recent reports say not before the end of 2030. An older government page still mentions a metro link to the Expo; that information is out of date.

No official visitor parking or park-and-ride plan has been announced. By road, the drive from the centre is reported at around 20 minutes without traffic.

Today, regular city buses, trams and trolleybuses in Belgrade are free to ride, while a few express routes, including the airport line, are paid. Our public transport guide explains how the network works now, and How to get to Expo 2027 covers every route to the site in detail.

There is no special Expo visa. Normal Serbian entry rules apply, and the Serbian foreign ministry publishes a country-by-country list. If you hold a valid Schengen, EU, UK or US visa, or a residence permit from the Schengen area, the EU or the US, you can enter without a Serbian visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Visa applications are made online through welcometoserbia.gov.rs.

Serbia is not part of the Schengen area, so Schengen rules and days do not carry over. Read Do I need a visa for Serbia for Expo 2027? for the full rules, and your first 48 hours in Belgrade for the registration rule that applies to every foreign visitor.

Accommodation

Belgrade's hotel capacity is the part of the plan people worry about most. Figures differ by date and by what is counted. In 2024, Danas reported around 120 hotels with about 7,500 rooms. In May 2026, RTS reported about 15,000 beds in registered private accommodation, an estimated 10,000 or more unregistered units, and new hotels under construction, including more international chains. The same report estimated around 60,000 visitors a day on weekdays and 120,000 at weekends.

Nobody has published reliable price forecasts for summer 2027, so we will not guess. The practical advice is to book early and to choose a base with a good transport link to Surčin. Based on the announced transport plans, New Belgrade near Block 45 and Block 20 (bus terminals), Zemun and Zemun Polje (rail), and the Savamala and Belgrade Waterfront area are worth a look. Surčin itself is closest but quiet in the evenings. Our where to stay for Expo 2027 guide compares the areas.

How long to plan for

The printing contract points to one-day and three-day tickets, which suggests the organisers expect many people to come back for more than one day. Our suggestion: give the Expo at least one full day, and add two or three days for the city itself. The Belgrade in 3 days itinerary works well around a single Expo day, and What to do in Belgrade during Expo 2027 covers river beaches, rooftops and day trips for summer 2027. For concerts and festivals happening in the city at the same time, check our events calendar.

The volunteer programme is called Expo Playmakers. Applications opened on 15 May 2026, and the organiser is looking for more than 20,000 volunteers across 48 roles. You must be 18 or older by 15 April 2027 and able to give at least 15 days during the Expo. International applicants are welcome, and by the end of August 2026 about 10,000 people from 119 countries had applied.

Benefits include a uniform, training, a certificate, discounts with Air Serbia and free Srbijavoz rail travel. Accommodation for international volunteers is not mentioned. You apply through the official volunteer portal; no deadline has been given. Our Expo 2027 volunteer guide walks through the roles and the application.

The Expo affects residents too. Surčin property prices rose by up to 15% after the Expo was announced, according to Vreme, and the metro was pushed back partly because the Expo was given priority. The project has also drawn criticism over its cost and the use of a special law that exempts it from standard public procurement rules. We cover rents, traffic, property and the debate in Expo 2027 for residents and expats.

• 21 June 2023: Belgrade elected host by the BIE
• 1 May 2024: National Stadium construction starts
• July 2025: 118 participants confirmed
• 15 May 2026: Volunteer applications open
• 18 August 2026: Ticket printing contract awarded
• 15 September 2026: Planned start of ticket sales (from the tender; not confirmed)
• September 2026: More than 140 participants confirmed
• September 2026–April 2027: Volunteer recruitment and training
• January/February 2027: Rail line testing planned to start
• Spring 2027: Rail line planned to open
• 15 May 2027: Expo opens
• 15 August 2027: Expo closes
• Early 2028: National Stadium expected to be completed

Confirmed by the organiser: the dates, the theme and sub-themes, the Surčin location, the 25 ha exhibition grounds, more than 140 participants, the Serbian House in Zone E, the volunteer programme and the €1.29 billion project budget.

Planned but not yet running: the Zemun Polje to Expo railway, the electric bus fleet and the Expo shuttle.

Not announced: ticket prices, whether sales have started, discounts, opening hours, visitor parking, bus routes and fares, the opening ceremony and headline concerts. When any of these appear on the official site, we will add them here and in the linked guides.