Himkok and Devil's Cut Join Belgrade Cocktail Fest 2026

Belgrade Cocktail Fest 2026 returns on June 6 as Serbia’s foremost cocktail festival and one of the most significant industry events in the Balkans, founded by veteran bartender Vladimir Simić and back with its most international lineup yet.

The Festival and Its Founder

Founded in 2024, Belgrade Cocktail Fest has quickly established itself as the leading cocktail festival in Serbia and a genuine reference point for the wider Balkans bar scene. Simić, a veteran Serbian bartender and bar manager of Belgrade restaurant and bar Dragoljub, built the fest as a platform for knowledge exchange and international collaboration. It has grown considerably in scope, pulling in guest bars from Madrid, Oslo, Rome, Athens, Florence, Copenhagen, and beyond for a full day of lectures, master classes, and city-wide guest shifts.

“One of the most beautiful things about Belgrade Cocktail Fest is that local and international bars stand side by side, meet each other, and actively collaborate,” says Simić. “This year, the schedule of collaborative festival guest shifts has become even richer, and the festival itself much bigger. We expanded the team by including enthusiasts from the bar industry, and we believe all of this will contribute to growing interest in cocktail culture and the bar scene in Belgrade and across the Balkans.”

A Bigger Program, More Ambitious Guests

The 2026 edition spans two days, with pre-festival activity kicking off on Friday, June 5. Diego Ferrari will guest shift at Holy Moly, Mattia Cappezuoli of Stravinsky Bar (Rome) takes the bar at Square Nine Hotel Belgrade, and Nicolo Rossi of Barrier in Bergamo heads to Backdoor5.

Saturday’s main program runs from 12:00 to 21:00 at Radisson Collection Hotel, Old Mill Belgrade, with a slate of lectures and industry master classes opening the day. Highlights include a session on contemporary mixology and techniques from Sentaku Izakaya (Bologna) and a deep dive into reinterpretations of Norwegian classics from Himkok (Oslo) – one of Europe’s most celebrated cocktail bars and a regular feature on the World’s 50 Best Bars list.

The Guest-Shift Schedule

The afternoon and evening guest-shift program pairs international bars with Belgrade venues in back-to-back one-hour sets:

• Ruby (Copenhagen) joins Holy Moly from 15:00 to 16:00, setting a Nordic tone for the afternoon.
• Botanical by Alfonse (Namur) teams up with Beogradski Koktel Klub from 16:00 to 17:00, bringing Belgian precision to one of the city’s most spirited venues.
• Naked Ath. (Athens) takes the shift alongside Isabel Speakeasy from 17:00 to 18:00, followed by their compatriots The Bar in Front of the Bar (Athens) at Q Bar from 18:00 to 19:00.
• Fede Cocktailab (Florence) brings Italian craft to KISSA10 from 19:00 to 20:00.
• Devil’s Cut (Madrid) closes the main program alongside Kultura Bar from 20:00 to 21:00.

The City as a Venue

Belgrade Cocktail Fest has never been contained to a single room. Later Saturday evening, bars across the city extend the program: Naked (Athens) takes over Riddle Bar, Sentaku Izakaya returns for a second set at KISSA10, and Devil’s Cut, Himkok, and Bar Gabriel (Istanbul) all converge at Dragoljub for a late-night finale that signals exactly the kind of cross-border energy Simić has been building toward.

What This Means for the Balkans

Simić is candid about where Belgrade stands and where it needs to go. “In my opinion, Belgrade still slightly lacks the courage and clearly defined, internationally recognizable style needed to elevate its hospitality scene to the next level,” he says. “But I believe the local and Balkan community will reveal its full potential over the coming years. To achieve that, continued education across the industry is essential.”

That honesty is part of what makes Belgrade Cocktail Fest credible. It is not a boosterism exercise – it is a deliberate, structured attempt to accelerate the development of a bar scene that already has the talent and the appetite, and now needs the platform. With Himkok representing Scandinavia’s most innovative bar culture and a lineup that spans six countries, the 2026 edition makes a strong case that Belgrade is earning its place on Eastern Europe’s cocktail map.

Belgrade Cocktail Fest 2026 takes place Saturday, June 6, 12:00–21:00, at Radisson Collection Hotel, Old Mill Belgrade, Bulevar vojvode Mišića 15. For the full program, visit belgradecocktailfest.com.