The Belgrade Music Festival – Bemus, the most important and oldest music festival in Serbia, born out of the desire to bring top world and domestic music artists to the Belgrade audience, is based on man's primordial need for play. 
For more than half a century, the Belgrade audience has been lucky and honoured to attend the performances of the best musical performers, who turn play into an art of the spirit, transcending the boundaries of the ordinary, the everyday and the familiar, and who introduce us to the magical, refined, dedicated and inspired World of Art. Therefore, this year's conceptual solution and slogan of the 56th Bemus were inspired by the Olympic Games, as a centuries-old symbol of human spirit and achievement.   
The Olympic Games, in their long tradition, bring together the best of the best in all sports disciplines. The origin of the games goes back to the ancient beginnings of civilization, to the gods of ancient Greece, who in mythology are considered the creators of this sports competition. Historical sources point to the ancient Greek gymnasium as the place where the Olympic Games originated. Nurturing the spirit meant nurturing the body, and in the gymnasium, young people, in addition to daily training on the practice fields, practiced debating moral behaviour, philosophy, literature and music. At the root of everything, in fact, was man's primordial need for play, as the basic spiritual driving force of everything creative, which is pointed out by Plato as well, who believed that life must be lived as play and that philosophy itself is a serious game that needs to be played.   
This fall, once again, the audience will witness the world’s music scene greats who will visit the capital of Serbia and, as every year, leave another mark in the rich and sumptuous performing tradition of Belgrade. 
The Olympic torch is lit. Let the Games of Musical Greats once again ignite the eternal flame of the World of Music in Belgrade this fall. Let the games begin!