At the location of Banje in the village of Oćevija on the road Olovo – Vareš, there is a famous picnic area where an international competition in the preparation of dishes under called “Pekijada” is held. This food festival is held every year in August. In a beautiful environment there, sources of drinking and thermal water can be found, which are among the strongest springs in the basin of the river Bosna and are a kind of natural atmosphere. Sources of drinking and thermal water are mixed and from them the river Oćevica is formed, which flows into Krivaja.
Many teams take part in the festival which has a competitive character, and they come from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia, and it is expected that in the coming years they could have teams from North Macedonia and Slovenia. Teams compete in the preparation of dishes under the baking lid, which is a famous product of local blacksmiths, and the event is held in a beautiful natural environment. Visitors have the opportunity to taste Vareš cheeses, see an exhibition of products from Oćevija, and an exhibition of old tools related to food preparation that were produced in Vareš. A rich cultural and entertainment program completes the event, which aims to promote the oldest blacksmiths in Europe, which has been operating in the traditional way for more than 500 years. This event is special and should be experienced, because sometimes words can not best describe all those positive emotions, laughter, meetings of people who have not seen each other for a long time. This event is a tradition, and this village has included the last Bosnian blacksmiths on the map of places that should definitely be visited.
