On Tuesday, September 22, a meeting with the media was held on the occasion of the announcement of the Fish Fest in front of the Vodenica restaurant on the Danube quay.
Fish Fest, already a traditional gastronomic and cultural-entertaining event that gathers gastronomic masters, lovers of fish and good fun every summer on the river, this year is held from September 24 to 27 on the Quay near the Nebojsa Tower at Kalemegdan.
Damir Handanović – Director of the Belgrade Festivals Centre – CEBEF, said that the City of Belgrade and CEBEF continued to support quality programmes and events with tradition, including this year's 14th Fish Fest, in the hope that, respecting all measures required by the Crisis Staff, the organization be successful. He believes that this event will be a promenade with good food and music, and he expressed satisfaction that this year's tradition of 14 years continued.
Djordje Živanović – president of the association ‘Danube in the Heart’ and a representative of Fish Fest, said that this event brought together the experts for cooking fish and other specialties, and, what had not been known because of the whole situation and then it was confirmed that guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who would prepare their own specialties would arrive. Fish Fest was created with the idea of reviving Vodena Varoš, which used to be at this place in the time of Despot Stefan Lazarević, and the approach under the gate near the Nebojša tower was called Vodena Kapija. He reminded that there used to be mills, a fish market, craft shops, and that is what he was trying to revive through the event. He announced the presentation of old crafts, entertainment for the youngest, emphasizing that this was primarily a gastronomic event. He expressed gratitude for the support of the City of Belgrade, CEBEF and the Ministry of Trade and Regional Development in the hope that Fish Fest would continue to be held in the following years.
Stambol Geštamov – honorary chef of the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Holiday Inn, a member of the Association of Chefs of Serbia and the Culinary Association of Serbia, assured those present that they should not worry about the quality of food – that the proven team would be there, the experts who had been preparing specialties so far. Although Dalmatians, Slovenes and Montenegrins could not come, during the previous 14 years a lot had been learned from them and a lot of knowledge had been exchanged.
As for the menu, he announced that fish soup would definitely be on it, as well as mussels on buzara, risotto, squid, gnocchi, all kinds of sea and river fish, but also barbecue, popular Sarajevo kebab, pies. He emphasized that all the food was fresh, and that there would always be enough for the visitors of the Fish Fest.
The Fish Fest event is free for the audience.