The brand that brought Novi Sad prestigious recognitions and awards, contributed to the tourist season and the image of the city, made an artistic and production breakthrough and hosted some of the biggest world and local names in performing and visual arts – Novi Sad’s Doček, will be implemented for the seventh time, as a unique celebration of two New in Europe on 31 December in Suburbium and on 13 January at various locations throughout Novi Sad and the surrounding area. Ticket sales for 13 January 2024 start today at noon.

Created as part of the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ project, during the previous seven years, Doček directly contributed to Novi Sad winning prestigious awards – the award for one of the most successful European Capitals of Culture ‘Melina Mercouri’, the award for the Best European Trend Brand in the field of culture, a prestigious UNESCO list of Creative Cities, while it was twice nominated for the Best European Festivals.

As the first New Year’s celebration that combined performing and visual arts, and already included spectacular new media exhibitions, Doček continues to set new standards, changing the practice of traditional fireworks, which it replaces with special visual effects and biodegradable materials on 31 December, in the spirit of the famous Tesla Light Gallery, which every year has a new edition in Suburbium.

On 31 December and 13 January, one of the best harpists in the world, Catrin Finch, a musician who changed the history of the accordion, Richard Galliano, the world’s supreme a capella band A Filetta, guitar legend Vlatko Stefanovski, a young band whose concerts are all sold out, Buč Kesidi, the renowned symphony orchestra of the National Theatre of the Republic of Srpska, along with the regionally famous Banja Luka band SOPOT are coming to the seventh Doček.

From the world’s most popular clubs comes Matthew Johnson, one of the regular DJs at the famous Berghain in Berlin, along with the recognizable name of the local techno scene – Marko Nastić, who are joined by the Novi Sad DJs Runy and 2MUCH, and Elemental, the winners of the MTV award and the famous Croatian Porin, as well as the legends of rock in this area – Partibrejkers.

The Novi Sad Big Band and guests will bring the sounds of Hollywood and the biggest Yugoslav films, this year’s winners of the most prestigious regional music award Milan Mladenović, Ljubičice, the most current regional tribute band from Serbia ABBA RING, Parisian producer and DJ Franck Roger, avant-garde Portuguese fado diva Gisela João, representatives of local progressive alternative sound Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša in the unplugged version, originator of the global musical phenomenon known as Balkan Beat Kiril Džajkovski, London alternative rock band Flamingods, one of the first representatives of the local electronic scene DJ Dejan Milićević, Serbian jazz diva Lena Kovačević, the SNP Children’s Choir and many others will perform at almost 40 locations.

As part of a unique celebration that, in addition to connecting two New Years, also connects two calendars, two alphabets, two time calculations and two types of art – performing and visual, cooperation with educational institutions continues, including the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and the Faculty of Technical Sciences, as well as visual artists who all together create a new edition of the Tesla Light Gallery at the Fortress on 31 December, and a special design of indoor scenes on 13 January.

From 2017, when the first Doček was implemented until the last, the number of overnight stays in Novi Sad jumped by as much as 90 percent in December, i.e. 130 percent in January, and in December 2022 and January 2023, the highest number of overnight stays in these months was realized in the last 20 years, according to official data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.

Over the past seven years, more than 400 programmes have been implemented at more than 100 locations in the city and its surroundings.

All programmes at Doček on 31 December are free. Tickets for 13 January can be found at all Gigstix ticket offices and online at gigstix.com. Partners of the Doček programme are Idea, Birra Moretti, NIS and DDOR.

All information about Doček can be found on the website docekns.rs