Serbians celebrated New Year on Tuesday evening according to the Orthodox Christian tradition.
Belgrade wore a festive look as commercial pedestrian zone remained busy with crowds. Christmas and New Year's decorations were on full display.
Some Eastern Orthodox churches follow the ancient Julian calendar, which runs 13 days later than the Gregorian calendar used by Catholic and Protestant churches and much of the secular world.
“I celebrate the Serbian (New Year),” said Zoran Todorovic, a Belgrade resident. "We're going out. We'll take a walk, drink mulled wine, eat traditional sweets, and then we'll go home and treat ourselves to a meal. I feel lovely.”
Jovan Brkic, also from Belgrade, was sceptical. “I don't celebrate the Serbian New Year. I don't give it much attention."
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“I think it's the same as the non-Serbian one, the usual, commercial New Year,” he added. "It's just an economic trick to get people to spend a bit more money, to give them a reason to be cheerful.”
Fireworks and a drone show was held at midnight at a newly built and much-criticised residential block by Sava River in Belgrade that was backed by Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic.
In the central Serbian town of Cacak, however, protesters snowballed a folk singer performing at the main square, angry that the local authorities were using public money for the celebrations.
Vucic faced street protests throughout last year against his autocratic rule in Serbia that were triggered by a train station disaster in November 2024 that killed 16 people in a northern city.
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