“Belgrade Unknown” is a combination of a travel lecture, an anthropological probe into the development of the Serbian capital between 2002 and 2024, and the diary of an angry teenager who was hated by everyone when he arrived there in 2002 because of the NATO bombing of Belgrade. Over the years he returns there, until finally in 2023 he goes there with a music lecture supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, accompanied by a journalist from the magazine Respekt covering the elections.”

Belgrade has been described as a lesser-known European gem. Even for Central Europeans, the prices are very sympathetic, the food stunning and the cultural activities wild. Where to eat the best food in Belgrade, where to walk and where to enjoy true southern nightlife?

Participants will check out tried-and-tested spots, get a closer look at the sights or alleys with live music, as well as the iconic fourth to sixth price. As well as places to go for a mix grill or burek, yet often the locals don’t even know about these places.

The traditional “kafanas” with red tablecloths and live music, where everything is based on harmonica and singing, possibly accompanied by violin or guitar, are slowly disappearing from the city. Modern businesses are springing up like mushrooms after the rain, but a few places with soul still exist. That authentic life, as well as concrete brutalist monsters, urban marketplaces or traffic tricks, the audience will see at the lecture.

Music journalist and Serbian language lecturer Dan Sywala has prepared a lecture relying on his experience from several years in Belgrade, as well as personal tips from the large Balkan community living in Prague.