If you’re planning a trip to North Macedonia, it’s worth thinking about taking advantage of the country’s annual festivals and booking your visit to coincide with a unique cultural event. With everything on offer from modern music festivals to traditional events that date back centuries, there’s plenty of options to suit all tastes.

In Ohrid, Struga and Prespa, don’t miss...

The annual Ohrid Summer Festival has been taking place since 1961 and features a wealth of classical music performances in a number of gorgeous historical and religious spaces. The festival takes place during July and August and is one more reason to visit what’s unquestionably the most beautiful city in North Macedonia.

Starting life way back in 1976 with just four runners, the now firmly established—and much better attended—Ohrid Marathon is an early autumn event featuring two distances and races for several different categories. Taking in the edge of the lake, this is quite simply one of the best places to run in Europe.

Fear not, the legendary Struga Poetry Evenings are open to artists performing in English as well as in Macedonian. Much more than just a bunch of clever people standing up and reading from a book, other things taking place during this annual August event include film screenings, workshops and much more.

Believed to date back some 1,400 years, the yearly Carnival in Vevčani has to be seen to be believed. Click on the link for more.