Bijelo dugme, considered by many to be the greatest and most significant band ever from the former Yugoslavia, is coming to Arsenal Fest 2024 (June 27-29) in a rock and roll set!

Music legends who inscribed themselves in history will perform on the Main Stage of the Knezev Arsenal on the second festival night, Friday, June 28th, as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of Bijelo Dugme first album “Kad bi’ bio bijelo dugme” in 1974.

Decades-long celebrated and internationally awarded bandleader Goran Bregovic and his crew have decided, for this special occasion, to return to their rock arrangements and bring back the versions of their timeless songs that made them enduring favorites for hundreds of thousands of fans across the region and beyond. This will be limited to a select number of concerts this year, and Kragujevac is among the cities to enjoy this privilege, making the Bijelo Dugme concert at Arsenal Fest carry a unique sense of exclusivity.

A band that transcended music, becoming a socio-political and social phenomenon throughout the former SFRY, was active from 1973 to 1989. Their last performance as a rock band was in 2005, during three major concerts held in Belgrade, Zagreb, and Sarajevo. The audience, undoubtedly, will pack the area in front of the Main Stage, enjoying hits from all periods of the band’s career: “Ne spavaj, mala moja, muzika dok svira”, “Selma”, “Tako ti je, mala moja, kad ljubi Bosanac”, “Sanjao sam nocas da te nemam”, “Na zadnjem sjedistu moga auta”, “Pristao sam, bicu sve sto hoce”, “Ako mozes, zaboravi”, “Lipe cvatu”, “Za Esmu”, “Ruzica si bila, sada vise nisi”, “Djurdjevdan”, “Evo, zaklecu se”…

Goran Bregovic explains the enduring popularity of these and many other songs in Bijelo Dugme repertoire as follows:

“I’ve noticed that almost everyone has a song called ‘Button’ in their repertoire. There aren’t many things that manage to survive for such a long time. I’m a middle-class child, my father was a military officer, and my mother was an accountant. I have the taste of children from middle-class families. It’s a taste that’s ours, normal, natural, and this music is written from that perspective, so maybe that’s also one of the reasons.”

Bijelo dugme in their rock style is at the very top of the list of confirmed performers at the 14th Arsenal Fest, followed by the Las Vegas rockers, Palaye Royale, who will bring the house down on June 29th.

The following artists are performing at Arsenal 2024: Zdravko Colic with a symphony orchestra, Keanu Reeves with his band Dogstar, Nouvelle Vague, Asian Dub Foundation, Sivert Hoyem, Circa Waves, Nik West, Lil Pump, Partibrejkers, Goblini, Keni nije mrtav, Jarboli…

Individual tickets for Arsenal Fest 2024 are priced at 2,500 dinars, while a three-day pass for all festival nights costs 5,000 dinars. Tickets can be purchased through the website www.tickets.rs and in all their stores.