From 7 to 11 October 2026, Belgrade will host SRBIJAFILA XVI - the Sixteenth National Philatelic Exhibition of Serbia with International Participation. It is organised by Post of Serbia together with the Union of Philatelists of Serbia, and the exhibition has been granted FEPA Recognition and FIP Sponsorship. This edition carries particular weight, because it brings under one roof two anniversaries, either of which would on its own justify a major exhibition: 75 years since the first national philatelic exhibition of 1951, and 160 years since the printing of the first Serbian definitive postage stamp - the Prince Michael issue of 1866.
The year 1866 is the starting point. With the portrait issue of Prince Michael Obrenović, the Serbian postal administration entered the field of definitive postage stamps for the first time, and in doing so laid the foundations of one of the most widely collected and most thoroughly researched bodies of material in the Balkans. A century and a half later, these stamps remain a measure of seriousness in almost every collection devoted to the region. The year 1951 is the other end of the arc. The first national exhibition institutionalised what until then had been a private passion and a club pursuit: it turned collecting into a public, competitive activity assessed by rules. Every subsequent edition of SRBIJAFILA rests on that foundation.
The exhibition will take place in the building of the Military Club of Serbia, in the very centre of Belgrade - a structure built in the spirit of modern architecture with elements of the expressionism of the nineteen-forties. The choice is no accident: an exhibition that celebrates continuity is housed in a building that is itself a document of its era.
The announced international participation sets out a clear regional framework. Exhibitors are invited from the philatelic federations of the former Yugoslav area - Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Beyond them, members of any national federation affiliated with FEPA or FIP are also entitled to take part, provided the exhibit relates to the territory of the former Yugoslavia; this possibility applies to Honorary Class A.1 and Competitive Classes B.1–B.5.
The classes follow the familiar structure. The Honorary Class comprises the Aleksandar Boričić Collection, exhibits of outstanding philatelic importance, exhibits of jury members, exhibits of postal administrations and museums, and exhibits by invitation. The Competitive Class covers traditional philately, postal history, postal stationery, aerophilately, revenue philately, thematic philately, maximaphily, picture postcards, the youth class and literature, with one-, two- and three-frame exhibits, as well as modern philately, allocated to their respective competitive classes.
Judging follows FIP regulations: a Large Gold Medal for 95–100 points, Gold for 90–94, Large Vermeil for 85–89, Vermeil for 80–84 - which is also the minimum qualification for participation in international exhibitions - Large Silver for 75–79, Silver for 70–74, Silver-Bronze for 65–69, Bronze for 60–64, and a diploma for 59 points or fewer. The Grand Prix of the Competitive Class is awarded from among the recipients of the Large Gold Medal, and the decisions of the jury are final.
The participation fee is RSD 1,200 (EUR 10) per frame, with the Honorary Class and the Literature class exempt. Accepted sheet sizes are 210 × 297 mm, 240 × 297 mm, 297 × 297 mm and 420 × 297 mm, numbered and protected by transparent sleeves. Each exhibitor may enter an unlimited number of exhibits, presented in Serbian, in the language of one of the former Yugoslav republics, or in English.
Applications are made entirely through the digital form on the official website, srbijafila.org. Exhibits belonging to members of the Union of Philatelists of Serbia are delivered personally to the Commissioner no later than 6 October 2026, while those from the former Yugoslav republics come exclusively through their National Commissioners. Upon a reasoned proposal by the General Commissioner, the Organising Committee may in exceptional circumstances approve the participation of exhibitors from abroad by means of a digital version of the exhibit, which the organiser prints and mounts in the frames. Exhibits are returned after the closing on 11 October 2026. Further information is available from the Organising Committee at the Union of Philatelists of Serbia, Kosovska 47, 11000 Belgrade, e-mail: [email protected].
For the collector from the region, SRBIJAFILA XVI is a rare chance to see in one place material that is normally scattered across private collections in six countries. For the researcher of Balkan postal history, five days in Belgrade will do work that otherwise takes years of rounds through fairs and auctions. And the anniversary context - 160 years of the Serbian stamp and 75 years of the national exhibition - gives the whole event a frame that routine annual shows rarely have.