The Balkans never stop amazing me. I randomly found out that Bosnia has been holding bullfights for over 250 years. I just had to go see it in person.

Even though they call it a Bosnian bullfight, the only thing it has in common with the Spanish version is the bulls. The second name for the Bosnian version—bull wrestling—actually gets closer to what's really going on. The animals leave the arena alive and healthy. At least, I didn't see any injuries.

They bring two powerful, massive bulls onto the field and wait for them to fight each other. There are people in the arena, but mostly to keep order and, for example, separate the bulls if a dangerous situation comes up.

Not all bulls want to fight. In that case, they might literally poke them with a stick, but without overdoing it or hitting them hard. More than half the matches end without actual combat. Usually, one of the bulls starts running around the field and mooing miserably, making it clear they don't want to fight. Then the referee declares the other bull the winner.

The fights go one after another without stopping. A match usually lasts a couple minutes, but you can spend another 5-10 minutes before the actual spectacle—bringing the bulls in and the preliminaries, when the bulls check each other out, just walk around the field, or stand next to each other. The pairs constantly rotate, and owners bring the animals to the arena as the event goes on, then take them back to the farm.

They hold dozens of these bullfights every year (!). Practically every weekend from spring to fall there's something going on. And they even advertise it on local TV. Smaller events fit into one day. Bigger ones go for 2-3 days. I was at the Kochichevo Assembly, the second largest one. The president of the Republika Srpska even visited last year.

It's one of the most atmospheric Balkan mass gatherings I've been to. But the format and the wrestling itself are definitely not for everyone. I was more curious about the tradition itself and the people around it. It's a whole separate world. I can't help but mention the insane amount of questionable t-shirts people were wearing with slogans like "on your knees before a Serb," ultra-right-wing messages about Kosovo, and other souvenirs with Mladić in the shops at the entrance.

PS. I'll add some more pictures in the comments.