Mowing on Kupres

What it is

Strljanica is the local name for the custom, and also the meadow where it happens. The meadow lies in Kupres polje, a wide karstic field, which is to say a flat hollow in limestone country, around the town of Kupres. There the mowing takes place each July. Grass at that height is hard to cut, so the work calls for strength and for a technique that mowers acquire over years. Judges weigh three things: how fast a mower finishes, how much effort he spends, and how much grass he brings down. The best three are named. The leading mower, the kosbaša or kolibaša, is treated as a leader who sees that every field is cut and the hay stored for the animals.

Origins and history

Nobody can say for certain when the first contest was held. It is assumed to reach back to 1687. What made mowing so serious was winter. Kupres has long, hard winters, and animals need fodder to come through them, so cutting grass and keeping it as hay was the most important work a household could do. Being the kosbaša was the greatest honour and carried the most standing in Kupres for much of the 20th century and beyond. Today the mowers themselves, together with the Association of Mowers Kupres, are given the chief credit for keeping the custom alive.

How it is kept

The Days of Mowing fill the first week of July in Kupres. The contest is the heart of it, but not all of it. Competitors are men, and by custom they start at eighteen; in a family the skill goes from father to son. Women rake the cut grass and ready food for guests. Horse races, a long jump, a tug-of-war and a shoulder-throwing contest are staged in the same week, along with other older sports. An International Folklore Festival runs as part of the Days of Mowing, and groups from the whole region come to take part. Folk costume belongs to the occasion too.

What it means

People around Kupres speak of the mowing as the ground of their cultural identity. That claim rests on how open it is: every ethnic and religious group in the country, and any individual, may enter, whatever their background. The shared labour of haymaking, and the contest that grew out of it, is what people point to when they explain who they are. The kosbaša, the mower who leads, stands for the skill and dependability the whole community counts on when the grass must come in before winter.

Recognition and today

In 2020 the custom was entered on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It joined the list at the fifteenth meeting of the committee, appearing there as the fourth item. The mowers and their association are named as the people who carry it forward. Each July the event still brings crowds to Strljanica, and it remains a source of pride for Kupres and for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The folklore festival and the other contests keep the week full, and the mowing itself continues as the centre of it.

How Mowing on Kupres is kept

Mowers, men from eighteen upward, take the meadow with scythes and work by hand. Judges watch speed, effort and the amount of grass cut, then name the top three; the leading mower is the kosbaša. The skill is handed down inside families, from father to son. Women rake the cut grass and see to food for visitors. The contest sits inside the Days of Mowing, which fill the first week of July, and the same days hold horse racing, tug-of-war, the long jump and a shoulder-throwing contest, plus an International Folklore Festival with groups from the region.

When and where

The competition is held each July on the Strljanica meadow, and the wider Days of Mowing occupy the first week of that month. The custom is assumed to go back to 1687.

It belongs to the town of Kupres in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the Strljanica meadow, the lowest ground of Kupres polje, a wide karstic field. Mowers come from the Kupres area, and folklore groups travel in from across the region to join the July days.

What Mowing on Kupres means

For people around Kupres the contest carries the memory of surviving hard winters, when hay decided whether animals and households got through. The kosbaša stood for skill, stamina and trust, and the whole community relied on the mowing being done well and in time. Because anyone from any ethnic or religious background may compete, the custom is held up as a shared identity for the region, something that belongs to everyone who lives there.

Questions people ask about Mowing on Kupres

See also

PasolaA ritual horseback spear contest in western Sumba marking the rice-planting seasonGreasy poleA slippery pole climbed, walked or crossed to win a prize at the top or the far endJallikattuA traditional bull-embracing event held during harvest celebrations in Tamil NaduFantasiaA North African equestrian display of synchronized charging and simultaneous rifle fire

Good reading and sources

• Grass mowing competition custom in KupresUNESCO, Heritage listing
• Grass mowing competition custom in KupresUNESCO, Article

• Mowing on Kupres on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.