The cultural side of Expo 2027 Belgrade is taking shape well beyond the exhibition grounds. Serbia's Ministry of Culture has selected 58 projects for full or partial funding under the official Expo cultural programme, and they will be staged in more than 20 towns and cities, from Subotica in the north to Niš, Negotin and Sjenica in the south and east.
The ministry's call opened on 29 May and closed on 10 July 2026. It drew 272 applications from arts organisations, cultural institutions and independent artists, so roughly one in five was successful. The results were reported on 19 October, and the full list is published as a PDF on the ministry's website. Funding amounts were not given in the coverage.
What is on the programme
The selection spans visual art, theatre, music, dance and film. Several projects bring foreign performers to Serbia, which fits the Expo theme of sport and music:
- The Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra, with the "Josif Marinković" choir and soloists, will perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
- Dečiji kulturni centar Beograd expects around 2,000 young participants from countries including Mexico, Turkey, Georgia, Colombia, China and Malaysia.
- Studentski kulturni centar Niš plans to host more than 200 artists, including choirs from China, Greece, Romania, Portugal, Slovenia and Hungary.
- Pianist Anika Vavić will team up with dancers from Jersey Ballet in a programme mixing classical music and contemporary dance.
- German curator Max Dax will present Serbian art through a project titled Work Hard – Play Hard.
- The Belgrade City Museum will mark the legacy of Maga Magazinović, a pioneer of modern dance in Serbia, through an exhibition and performances.
- Kulturni centar Novi Sad and the youth association OPENS will explore cultural links with South Korea.
Other projects include an exhibition on Serbia's techno scene from the 1990s to 2005, international films at the Merlinka festival, and an inclusive music-theatre production in Šabac adapted for deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind and low-vision audiences.
A programme spread across the country
The decision to fund projects outside the capital follows the pattern of the Expo caravan. According to the organisers, it visited 34 Serbian municipalities over two and a half months, drew more than 120,000 visitors and involved over 1,700 performers. The cultural programme seems designed to extend that reach into the exhibition year, giving regional institutions their own Expo-branded events.
Dates and venues for most of the 58 projects have not yet been published. Some will likely run during the Expo itself, from 15 May to 15 August 2027, and others before or after it.
What it means for event professionals
For production companies, technical suppliers and venue operators, this is a pipeline of concrete events with funding behind them. Many of the selected organisers are public institutions and small associations without in-house capacity for staging, sound and lighting, international artist logistics, or accessibility services.
A few practical points:
- Regional suppliers in cities such as Niš, Novi Sad, Šabac and Subotica are well placed, as projects will need local crews and venues.
- International guests (choirs, dancers, children's groups) mean demand for accommodation, transport, interpreters and rehearsal space, often in the same summer weeks as the Expo.
- Accessibility is explicitly part of several projects, an area where experienced providers of sign interpretation, audio description and adapted staging are scarce.
Organisations named in the funded list are the natural first contacts. Since most will run their own procurement on modest budgets, early approaches with clear, costed offers are likely to work better than waiting for spring.
Sources
- www.b92.net
- www.b92.net
