Serbia's Brass Band Festival Kicks off in Guca

The 55th annual Guca Brass Band Festival began on Monday and will run for seven days, turning a small, sleepy town in western Serbia, some 160 kilometres from Belgrade, into the country's biggest party spot.

Rasim Ljajic, the Serbian minister for trade, tourism and telecommunications, officially opened the festival, saying that Guca was a "cultural miracle" which deserves more government attention.

He promised that the government will support the event by building tourist infrastructure in the tiny town of around 2,000 people, and providing international promotion in order to attract as many foreign visitors as possible.

The organisers believe that 20 per cent of its current visitors are foreigners but the government wants to boost numbers so that in future every third visitor comes from outside Serbia.

The main musical attraction of the festival is always the brass band competition, in which the best ensembles from around the world battle it out for the coveted Golden Trumpet Award.

Among the performers will also be the renowned Serbian musician Goran Bregovic, once the leader of the famous Yugoslav pop group Bijelo Dugme, who now performs brass music with his Weddings and Funerals band.

Visitors will have the chance to listen to around 600 brass players, but the president of the executive committee of the festival, Milivoje Dolovic, told Beta news agency that only certified performers will be able to blow their horns, and playing any other kind of music is strictly forbidden.  

"There is no place for entertainers performing folk and pop music, since people come here only to hear the trumpet," said Dolovic.

Any band playing without a certificate will have to pay a 60,000 dinar fine (around 500 euro). Any shop or...