Serbs are the people with rich tradition, who, due to various historical circumstances, faced great temptations to preserve it. However, many Serbian customs have been lost or suppressed over a long period of time. Today, in the changed circumstances, within the Serbian entity, there is a growing tendency to renew most customs and weave them into the context of modern life. The most common and well-known customs among Serbs are the customs of the life cycle, which are related to birth, baptism, marriage and death.
Slava
Slava, also known as krsna slava or krsno ime (literally, “christened name”), is a distinctive Serbian Orthodox Christian tradition dedicated to the veneration of a family’s patron saint. The saint is regarded as the family’s spiritual protector, and the celebration is passed down through generations, traditionally from father to son. Although the custom is often associated with pre-Christian traditions, its present form is rooted in Serbian Orthodox Christianity and has become one of the most important expressions of Serbian religious and cultural identity.
Slava is primarily a family celebration, but its significance extends well beyond the household. Relatives, friends, neighbours and other guests are welcomed to share the occasion, making it a symbol of hospitality, togetherness and respect for family heritage. Even among Serbs who live abroad, Slava provides an important link with their homeland, ancestors and cultural roots.
The celebration traditionally includes a special bread known as slavski kolač, prepared and decorated for the occasion, boiled wheat called koljivo or žito, red wine and a candle. The bread and wheat are blessed, often in church or by a priest visiting the family home. The ritual breaking of the slavski kolač, accompanied by prayers and the pouring of wine, expresses gratitude to God and the hope for health, peace and prosperity. The family then hosts a festive meal, with the menu reflecting the religious calendar: some Slavas fall during Orthodox fasting periods and are therefore observed with a meat-free, fasting meal.
Among the most widely celebrated Slavas are Saint Nicholas on 19 December, Saint George on 6 May, Saint John the Baptist on 20 January, Saint Demetrius on 8 November and the Feast of the Holy Archangel Michael on 21 November. These are the corresponding Gregorian calendar dates; the Serbian Orthodox Church currently observes these fixed feast days according to the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.
The tradition is not only a religious observance but also a living form of intangible cultural heritage. In 2014, UNESCO inscribed Slava, celebration of family saint patron’s day, on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The recognition highlighted the tradition’s role in preserving family identity, transmitting knowledge between generations and strengthening relationships within communities. While Slava is especially associated with Serbs, the celebration of family patron saints is also practised by other Orthodox Christian communities in Serbia.
Vidovdan
Vidovdan (“St. Vitus Day”) is a Serbian national and religious holiday, a slava (feast day) celebrated on 28 June, in use by the Serbian Orthodox Church to venerate St. Vitus. The Serbian Church designates it as the memorial day to Saint Prince Lazar and the Serbian holy martyrs who fell during the Battle of Kosovo against the Ottoman Empire on that day in 1389. It is an important part of Serb ethnic and Serbian national identity.
Vidovdan is sacred to Serbian Orthodox Christians and the cult was especially active among the South Slavs, who had transformed the pagan Slavic god Svetovid into the Sicilian martyr who exorcized the evil out of Diocletian’s son. Through the centuries, Serbian historical events such as the defeat at the Battle of Kosovo became sources for spiritual strength and patriotism. It was not a coincidence that Gavrilo Princip assassinates the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Vidovdan, triggering the First World War.
Christmas traditions
The Serbs celebrate Christmas (Serbian diminutive form of the word “bog”, meaning God, it refers to Jesus being born as the son of God) for three consecutive days, beginning with Christmas Day. The Serbian Orthodox Church uses the traditional Julian calendar, as per which Christmas Day (25 December) falls currently on 7 January of the Gregorian calendar. This day is called by Serbs the first day of Christmas, and the following two are accordingly called the second, and the third day of Christmas. During this festive time, one is to greet another person with “Christ is born!”, which should be responded to with “Indeed he is born!”
This holiday surpasses all the other celebrated by Serbs, with respect to the diversity of applied folk customs and rituals. These may vary from region to region, some of them having modern versions adapted to the contemporary way of living. The ideal environment to carry them out fully is the traditional multi-generation country household. In the morning of Christmas Eve a Serbian Badnjak Oak is felled, and a log cut from it is in the evening ceremoniously put on the domestic fire. A bundle of straw is taken into the house and spread over the floor. The dinner on this day is festive, copious and diverse in foods, although it is prepared in accordance with the rules of fasting.
On Christmas Day, the celebration is announced at dawn by church bells and by shooting. A big importance is given to the first visit a family receives that day. People expect that it will summon prosperity and well-being for their household in the ensuing year; this visit is often pre-arranged. Christmas dinner is the most celebratory meal a family has during a year. A special, festive loaf of bread is baked for this occasion. The main course is roast pork which they cook whole by rotating it impaled on a wooden spit close to an open fire. It is not a part of Serbian traditions to exchange gifts during Christmas. Gift giving is, nevertheless, connected with the holiday, being traditionally done on the three consecutive Sundays that immediately precede it. Children, women, and men, respectively, are the set gift-givers on these three days. Closely related to Christmas is New Year’s Day by the Julian calendar (January 14 on the Gregorian calendar), whose traditional folk name is Little Christmas.
Easter
Easter, known in Serbian as Vaskrs or Uskrs, is the most important feast in the Serbian Orthodox Christian calendar. It celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and symbolises the victory of life over death, hope over despair, and the promise of spiritual renewal. For Serbian Orthodox believers, Easter is a time of prayer, family gatherings, hospitality and the continuation of traditions passed down through generations.
Preparations begin during Great Lent, a period of fasting and spiritual reflection preceding the feast. Holy Week, the final week before Easter, is particularly significant, as believers commemorate the final days of Christ’s life, His suffering and crucifixion, and ultimately His Resurrection. Many attend church services throughout this period, with especially solemn services held on Good Friday.
One of the best-known Serbian Easter customs is the colouring of Easter eggs, traditionally on Good Friday. The first egg is usually dyed red, a colour associated with Christ’s blood and the triumph of the Resurrection. This special egg is called čuvarkuća, meaning “guardian of the home”, and is traditionally kept in the household until the following Easter as a symbol of protection, health and prosperity. Eggs are decorated in many ways, from traditional methods using onion skins and wax to more elaborate contemporary designs.
The celebration reaches its joyful culmination on Easter Sunday. Many believers attend the midnight or early-morning church service, where the Resurrection is proclaimed. The traditional greeting is “Hristos vaskrse!” (“Christ is risen!”), to which the response is “Vaistinu vaskrse!” (“Indeed, He is risen!”). These words express the central message of the Christian feast and are exchanged among family members, friends and neighbours throughout the Easter period.
After the service, families gather for a festive meal, marking the end of the Lenten fast. The coloured eggs take centre stage: family members and guests choose an egg and tap it against another, in a popular custom known as tucanje jajima. The person whose egg remains unbroken is considered the winner. Easter eggs are also exchanged as gifts and offered to visitors as a sign of welcome and goodwill.
Easter is also a time to visit relatives, share meals and strengthen family and community bonds. Although customs vary from one region and family to another, the combination of religious observance, red eggs, traditional greetings and generous hospitality remains central to the celebration. For Serbs living abroad, Easter is likewise an important opportunity to preserve their Orthodox faith and cultural heritage and pass these traditions on to younger generations.
Through its religious services and family customs, Serbian Easter brings together faith, history and community, celebrating the enduring message of the Resurrection and the hope of new life.
Hospitality
Hospitality is an important part of Serbian culture, reflecting the importance of generosity, friendship and respect for others. Unexpected guests are traditionally welcomed as readily as planned visitors, and even when caught unprepared, hosts will offer whatever they have available. An unannounced visit is rarely considered an inconvenience; rather, it is an opportunity to share a moment of conversation and companionship.
Bread and salt are traditionally offered to honoured guests as symbols of respect, friendship and goodwill. Another custom is to serve slatko, a sweet fruit preserve offered on a small spoon, often accompanied by a glass of water. These simple gestures reflect the value placed on making others feel at ease.
Guests, in turn, often bring a small gift when visiting someone’s home, such as chocolates, sweets, coffee or flowers, even for a brief visit. Sharing food is central to Serbian social life, bringing family and friends together for conversation and strengthening personal bonds.
Passed down through generations, these customs remain an important expression of Serbian cultural identity, embodying the belief that generosity lies not in the abundance of what one offers, but in the willingness to share it.
For foreigners visiting Serbia, the country’s hospitality is often one of the most memorable aspects of their experience. Visitors are frequently welcomed with genuine warmth and curiosity, and hosts are eager to share their food, customs and way of life. Even those meeting for the first time may quickly find themselves invited to a family meal or offered homemade specialities, coffee or a glass of rakija. Language differences are rarely seen as a barrier to friendliness, and guests are often treated with the same generosity and consideration as old friends. This openness reflects a deeply rooted cultural tradition in which welcoming someone from another country is not only an act of kindness, but also an opportunity for friendship and cultural exchange.
Humour
Serbian has a long tradition of humour and popular jokes. The most common type of humour is Black Humour and Serbian jokes are often imitated by other peoples from the Balkans, often with a twist. As with many other peoples, there are popular stereotypes on the local level: in popular jokes and stories, northern Serbs of Vojvodina (Lale) are perceived as phlegmatic, undisturbed and slow; Montenegrins are lazy and pushy; southern Serbs are misers; Bosnians are raw and simple; Serbs from Central Serbia (Sumadija) are often portrayed as capricious and malicious, etc. Also, policemen and blondes are mocked as being stupid.
Vampires
Although beliefs in the returning dead and supernatural beings resembling vampires existed in various ancient cultures, Serbian folklore played a significant role in introducing the vampire to European literature and popular imagination. The modern Western concept of the vampire was strongly influenced by reports from Serbia in the early eighteenth century, when local beliefs and practices surrounding the dead attracted the attention of Habsburg officials and military physicians.
Following the Habsburg Monarchy’s acquisition of northern Serbia under the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, reports emerged of villagers exhuming bodies suspected of returning from the grave to harm the living. Two cases became particularly influential: that of Petar Blagojević in the village of Kisiljevo in 1725, and that of Arnold Paole, as his name appeared in Western European accounts, near Medveđa in 1732. Reports of these investigations were published and circulated widely across Europe, provoking intense debate about the supernatural, death and the limits of contemporary medical knowledge.
These accounts helped transform a regional folk belief into an internationally recognised figure of horror and mythology. The word vampire entered Western European languages through eighteenth-century reports, probably via German Vampir and French vampyre, from the Serbian word vampir. Its precise linguistic origins are debated, but its association with Serbian folklore is firmly established. The spread of these reports contributed to the vampire’s subsequent development in European literature, from early Gothic writing to the enduring vampire characters of modern novels, films and popular culture.
In Serbian tradition, the vampire was generally understood as a deceased person believed to return from the grave and threaten the living. Beliefs and protective practices varied by region and period, reflecting historical understandings of death, illness and unexplained misfortune. While the literary vampire later became associated with elegant, immortal and often aristocratic figures, its folkloric roots were much closer to rural communities, burial customs and fears surrounding the boundary between life and death.
Serbia’s contribution to vampire mythology therefore lies not in the claim that all beliefs in such beings originated there, but in the extraordinary influence of its documented eighteenth-century cases on the development of the vampire as a figure recognised around the world. The word itself and the historical reports that carried it across Europe remain an important part of Serbia’s place in the history of folklore and popular culture.
Disunity and discord
Disunity and discord have acquired in the Serbian popular imaginary a notorious, quasi-demiurgic status. They are often perceived as being the chief malefactors in Serbian history, causing political or military defeats, and threatening to tear Serbian society completely apart, often quoted as the source of Serbian historic tragedies, from the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 to Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s. Even the contemporary notion of “two Serbias” – one supposedly liberal, pro-western and pro-European, and the other conservative, nationalist, Russophile and Eurosceptic – seems to be the extension of the said discord. Popular proverb “two Serbs, three political parties” and even the unofficial Serbian motto “Only Unity Saves the Serbs” illustrate the national frustration with the inability to unite over important issues.
Serbian epic poetry
Serbian epic poetry is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today’s Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The main cycles were composed by unknown Serb authors between the 14th and 19th centuries. They are largely concerned with historical events and personages. The instrument accompanying the epic poetry is the gusle.
Serbian epic poetry helped in developing the Serbian national consciousness. The cycles of Prince Marko, the Hajduks and Uskoks inspired the Serbs to restore freedom and their heroic past. The Hajduks in particular, are seen as an integral part of national identity; in stories, the hajduks were heroes: they had played the role of the Serbian elite during Ottoman rule, they had defended the Serbs against Ottoman oppression, and prepared for the national liberation and contributed to it in the Serbian Revolution.
Gusle
The gusle instrumentally accompanies heroic songs (epic poetry) in the Balkans. The instrument is held vertically between the knees, with the left hand fingers on the neck. The strings are never pressed to the neck, giving a harmonic and unique sound. There is no consensus about the origin of the instrument, while some researchers believe it was brought with the Slavs to the Balkans, based on a 6th-century Byzantine source. Teodosije the Hilandarian (1246–1328) wrote that Stefan Nemanjic (r. 1196–1228) often entertained the Serbian nobility with musicians with drums and “gusle”. Reliable written records about the gusle appear only in the 15th century. 16th-century travel memoirs mention the instrument in Bosnia and Serbia.
It is known that Serbs sang to the gusle during the Ottoman period. Notable Serbian performers played at the Polish royal courts in the 16th- and 17th centuries, and later on in Ukraine and in Hungary. There is an old mention in Serbo-Croatian literature that a Serbian guslar was present at the Polish court in 1415.
Kolo
Kolo is one of the most recognisable expressions of Serbian traditional culture and an enduring symbol of community, identity and shared heritage. The word refers to a group dance in which participants hold hands, link arms or place their hands on one another’s shoulders, moving together in a circle, semicircle or winding formation. Although kolo is particularly associated with Serbs, related forms of circle dancing are also found among other peoples of the Balkans, including Montenegrins and Macedonians.
Kolo is traditionally performed at weddings, family celebrations, religious holidays, village gatherings and national festivals. It brings people of different ages and backgrounds together, with participation often more important than individual skill. The dance is accompanied by a variety of traditional music, played on instruments such as the accordion, violin, flute and, in some regional traditions, the frula, a small wooden flute. Rhythms, steps and formations vary considerably, reflecting the distinctive musical and cultural traditions of Serbia’s different regions.
There is no single form of kolo. Different styles developed throughout the country, shaped by local customs, music and historical influences. Among the best-known dances are Užičko kolo, associated with western Serbia, and Moravac, linked to the Morava region, Vlaško kolo in Eastern Serbia, and widely performed throughout the country. Other regional dances preserve distinctive steps, rhythms and costumes, demonstrating the diversity of Serbian folk heritage.
Beyond its role as entertainment, kolo represents solidarity, belonging and continuity between generations. Its shared movements express the idea of a community acting in harmony, while the transmission of dances and songs from older to younger generations helps preserve local traditions. Kolo remains a familiar feature of both everyday celebrations and organised folklore performances in Serbia and among Serbian communities abroad.
In 2017, Kolo, traditional folk dance, was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The recognition highlighted its importance as a living tradition through which communities maintain social bonds, express cultural identity and pass their heritage on to future generations.
Kumstvo
Serbian culture places great importance on family, kinship and the bonds that connect generations. This is reflected in the richness of the Serbian language, which has an extensive vocabulary for family relationships and distinguishes between different forms of kinship. Among these, kumstvo occupies a particularly honoured place: a spiritual bond that extends beyond blood relations and creates a lasting connection between families.
The kum (godfather or, depending on the occasion, godparent or wedding witness) holds a special position in Serbian tradition. More than an honoured guest, the kum is regarded as a trusted friend of the family and a person whose relationship with it carries spiritual and moral significance. In Orthodox Christian practice, the godparent assumes responsibility for supporting the spiritual upbringing of the person being baptised. At weddings, the kum also plays an important ceremonial role, bearing witness to the marriage and the couple’s commitment.
The tradition has deep historical roots, and its customs have evolved over time through the interaction of older folk beliefs and Orthodox Christianity. The Church gives kumstvo a clear religious meaning through baptism and the responsibilities of a godparent. Saint John the Baptist, who baptised Jesus Christ, holds a special place in this tradition. In Serbian popular culture, the bond between kum and family is often described as sacred, and the acceptance of the role is traditionally treated as a serious commitment rather than a casual favour.
Kumstvo has traditionally been maintained across generations, with the relationship between two families often continuing as a form of inherited spiritual kinship. The kum is expected to be present at significant milestones, especially baptisms and weddings, and the relationship is founded on mutual trust, respect and loyalty. Although particular customs differ across regions and families, the bond is generally regarded as one that should not be entered into lightly or broken without serious reason.
The importance of kumstvo is captured in Serbian sayings that place the kum among the most respected figures in a person’s life. One traditional expression declares, “Godfather first, then God” (Kum pa Bog), while another compares the kum’s place on Earth to God’s place in Heaven. These sayings are not theological statements, but expressions of the exceptional respect traditionally accorded to this spiritual relationship.
Today, kumstvo remains an important part of Serbian cultural and religious life. While its observance varies between families and communities, it continues to represent a bond chosen through trust and sustained through responsibility, loyalty and shared life experiences.
