The Mimosa Festival, Herceg Novi's winter in flower

In the depths of winter, while the rest of the coast idles, Herceg Novi turns yellow. Mimosa blooms all along the riviera and the town celebrates with its best-loved festival, Praznik mimoze, the Mimosa Festival. It has been going for more than half a century and, if you want one reason to visit the Bay of Kotor in winter, this is it.

More than fifty years of festival

It was founded in 1969 by the Bay of Kotor Tourist Association and Herceg Novi’s municipal assembly, and the tourist board ranks it among the region’s biggest and longest-lived tourism festivals. Today it’s produced and run by the municipal Herceg Fest cultural centre, which also handles the summer shows inside the town’s fortresses, from Kanli kula to Forte Mare. Herceg Fest says the mimosa, which flowers in spite of the winter and turns the riviera into a garden, is the symbol of the festival and of winter tourism on the bay and the whole Montenegrin coast.

What goes on

Through February and March the calendar fills up. The showpieces are the carnival parades, masked balls for children and adults, the international flower show and promenade concerts by brass bands and majorettes. The biggest crowd-puller is the mimosa, fish and wine fête, which draws around 20,000 people each year. On top of that come exhibitions, concerts, theatre and literary evenings, performers from across the region, showcases of food and culture from twinned towns, and sports competitions. Herceg Fest adds that a Mimosa caravan travels to towns in the region and elsewhere in Europe. The National Tourism Organisation goes further still, naming the festival as the best time of all to visit Herceg Novi, a welcome to spring with music, parades, flowers and good food. I can see why. It is the one moment of the year when this quiet town is busy without being crowded.

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When to go and what weather to expect

The festival spans February and March, but as of 11 October 2026 nobody had announced the exact 2027 dates. Check the Herceg Fest and tourist board listings before booking. On the weather, MONSTAT’s 2024 figures for the Herceg Novi station give a February average of 12.1°C, with 7 days of rain and no snow at all that year, so bring a light jacket and an umbrella. I go into more detail in Montenegro weather in February.

Pairing it up

February also brings Kotor’s carnival, which in 2026 ran from 6 to 15 February, so you can catch both on one trip. And if art is your thing, Herceg Novi’s Winter Salon, the town’s big art show, is even older, with its first edition on 15 January 1967. For the rest of the country’s calendar, see events in Montenegro.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Mimosa Festival and pick one that fits your day.

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