Thousands of Sarajevo residents and tourists from all parts of the world welcomed the new 2019 in a central open-air celebration at the Eternal Flame, one of the city's most prominent sites.
Hari Mata Hari, the regional pop star, entertained the guests on the New Year's Eve, while the first day of 2019 the visitors enjoyed a concert of pop-rock band Bombaj Stampa.
“Sarajevans connect with their guests from the whole world in these unique moments which create our lives, we always share together the joy and pain, happiness and sorrow. That's how we are, we love our guests, we are good hosts and that's why we have so many visitors,” Sarajevo Mayor Abdulah Skaka said in his New Year message.
All accommodation capacities in the Bosnian capital and the Olympic mountains surrounding the city were almost fully booked, according to online booking services, making this season exceptionally successful in terms of tourism.
Open-air celebrations were organised in other major Bosnian cities except in Banja Luka, which was cancelled due to a protest that was held a day before the New Year's Eve.
Police and emergency services recorded no major incident in any of the public celebrations.
