Discover Guča: Trumpet Tradition and Cultural Heritage

The Dragačevo Trumpet Festival is a traditional festival and a unique showcase of trumpet music; it began in Guča in 1961. Other cultural and historical themes also shape the town’s character: the Church of the Holy Archangel Gabriel, the Trumpet Museum, and the Lapidarium. When planning your trip, you can therefore decide whether the festival or the town’s architectural and cultural history is the main draw. If you are travelling for the Sabor, check the latest dates and programme information against your planned stay before booking.

Festival programme in Guča

Every year, the parade of festival participants, accompanied by trumpet orchestras, winds its way through the streets of Guča. The programme also includes an improvised traditional Dragačevo wedding: participants wear traditional dress and parade through Guča. The “Narodni višeboj” comprises four disciplines: high jump, stone throwing, wrestling, and shooting through an apple ring. Zdravičari also perform at the Sabor, reciting traditional toasts, songs, and verses. Alongside the trumpet orchestras, the programme thus features parades, customs, and competitions. Svadbarski kupus and roast meat are also among the dishes associated with the Sabor.

Church and Trumpet Museum

The Church of the Holy Archangel Gabriel was built between 1828 and 1831. Its churchyard is considered the birthplace of the first trumpet festival, held on 14 October 1961. The church is a single-nave building with a semicircular apse: it has one nave and a rounded apse end.

At the Trumpet Museum, the exhibition “Heroine of an Era” is dedicated to the life’s work of Rajka Borojević. The museum’s ground floor serves as a gallery. It also displays a bass trumpet by Milosav Ivanović of Severovo near Arilje, estimated to be more than 100 years old. The exhibition and instrument offer different perspectives on trumpet culture: through one person’s life’s work and through a specific instrument with a named origin and estimated age.

Lapidarium and other cultural highlights

The Lapidarium comprises 33 funerary and roadside monuments created by self-taught rural stonemasons. In 2001, the Government of the Republic of Serbia placed it under protection and declared it cultural heritage; the monuments are arranged in three Sobrašice. While the Trumpet Museum explores music and biography, the Lapidarium focuses on stone monuments and their design. The Trumpeter Monument is a symbol of Guča and its trumpet festival. Self-taught painters and sculptors from Dragačevo have set up a gallery in the centre of Guča.

Routes and other travel interests

Guča’s hiking and cycling routes extend for 8 km in one direction. Guča’s sports complex is on the banks of the Bjelica River. As facilities and access conditions may change, check them before visiting. This lets you choose between the festival programme, cultural history, and the leisure activities mentioned when planning your stay.

Discover more destinations: Lozanj, Leušići, Čačak, Gornji Banjani, Ivanjica, Grab, Ozrem, Kušići

Return to the regional travel overview: Moravica District.