The Lika Olympics in Apatin | Tourist Calendar of Serbia

The Lika Olympics takes place every summer in Apatin and represents primarily a sports event, but also a cultural one, as its main goal is to preserve Lika's culture and customs.

On that day, people from Lika gather in Apatin, as well as all interested citizens who want to familiarize themselves with Lika's customs and have a good time.

Serbs whose roots come from Lika, in Croatia, now make up almost 70 percent of Apatin's population, making this beautiful town on the Danube the largest Lika town in Serbia. According to representatives of Serbs displaced from Lika, only in Chicago are there more Lika people than here.

Under different circumstances, but mostly during colonization after World War II, Serbs from Lika were forced to leave their homes in present-day Croatia and were resettled in various parts of former Yugoslavia, predominantly in Vojvodina.

The culture and tradition of Serbs from Lika have been preserved for centuries, no matter where their homes may be. Descendants of Lika fighters who settled in Apatin in 1946 speak nostalgically about their place of origin.

Lika Multievent is part of folk games, representing a series of ancient Lika competitions, and in Apatin, it is manifested through the so-called Lika Olympics held every year in late June or early July.

Following the example of Lika Oke, which took place near the homonymous springs in Lika, the Homeland Association of Lika People "Nikola Tesla" initiated this event in collaboration with the municipality of Apatin. Today, the Lika Olympics is held in Banja Junaković, in the immediate vicinity of Apatin.

The main event is the competitions themselves, with clearly defined rules and scoring system. The team consists of 15 members, including a leader known as harambaša. For each discipline, he nominates one competitor, except for tug-of-war, where 10 participants compete. There is a scoring table, and the team that scores the most points is the winner of the Lika Olympics.

Participants compete in 10 disciplines of traditional sports, such as sack race involving children, hook pulling, standing long jump, stick pulling, log walking, arm wrestling, standing high jump, climbing the cone, stone throwing from the shoulder, and tug-of-war. Participants are mostly men, although in 2019, two women's teams participated for the first time.

In addition to the competitions in ancient games, this one-day event includes a cultural and artistic program where visitors can familiarize themselves with Lika folk songs, music, and traditional costumes, with the famous Lika cap being an integral part. A military-style lunch is organized for all participants and visitors.

The first event called "Lika Olympics" was held in Apatin in 2010, but it was preceded by similar events, such as the "Lika Multievent."

More information about this year's edition of the Lika Olympics can be obtained through the mass media and local news outlets.