When you think of European festivals, Croatia might not be the first destination that springs to mind, but in a small fishing village on the west coast big things are happening.
If you’re sick of having to commit to festivals that take more planning and commitment than the average marriage — and cost almost as much — then fear not.
Now you can swap soggy burgers and overpriced falafel for freshly caught fish, delicious pizza and fruit bursting with ripeness; replace that army surplus tent with an apartment with ensuite bathroom; and feel smug as you contemplate those trudging through the mud while you swim in the sea and top up your tan as blissed-out beats pulsate in the background.
Petrcaning it
Petrcane, a fishing village just 20 minutes in a taxi from the Croatian city of Zadar, is being compared to Ibiza 20 years ago — and not without reason. And with regular return flights from London from around £200, it won’t cost that much more than a British festival.
Head to Petrcane any time between July and September, and there’s a fair chance you’ll stumble across a festival. While not exactly a secret, it’s still unknown enough not to have been ruined by the crowd who ‘do Glasto’ with their vile Cath Kidston tents and designer wellies. The excellent Garden, Soundwave and Stop Making Sense festivals are all held here, but for eighty of your English pounds, you can’t top Electric Elephant — a 3-day festival you’ll remember for the rest of your life.
Electric Elephant 27-29 August
Electric Elephant is brought to you by the people who started the legendary Electric Chair night in Manchester. The Unabombers, Justin and Luke, set up the night as a reaction to the superstar DJ corporate 20-quid-a-head club culture that was taking over British nightclubs in the 90s. Their refreshingly eclectic music policy has seamlessly transferred to the sun and sea of Croatia.
Festivals apart, Petrcane and the surrounding area offers enough to keep you busy for a week. There are plenty of decent food places along the seafront for those who want to tuck into Mediterranean classics, neck a few beers and get back to the dancing, but there are also lots of smaller family-run restaurants offering fish straight off the boats, as well as traditional Croatian cuisine such as spit-roast lamb.
The festival site is a compact area on the headland, incorporating a stage, open-air beach bars and a club. A large campsite lies next to the festival, so if you want to open your tent to sunshine and sea air every morning, it will only cost about £3 a night.
The nightclub is a 70s wonderland where you could imagine Roger Moore schmoozing in a crimplene safari suit. The round building, Barbarella’s, is an authentic disco from the golden age of Chic, Shaft and Studio 54. It has recently been refurbished, but has kept its disco soul. Open till 6am, it really comes to life after the outdoor stages have closed for the night.
The line-up at Electric Elephant would rival the dance stage at most UK festivals, but being under the stars with the sea breeze rustling through your hair means you’ll enjoy it all the more. Highlights of last year included Four Tet’s beat-heavy live performance, while Horse Meat Disco’s brilliant DJ set left everyone grinning like idiots.
There’s always music to chill or dance to, whether in the beach bar, on the legendary boat trips, stage or nightclub, but there are enough live gigs thrown in to mix things up. She Keeps Bees played on stage last year and the folk boat party was a revelation — hundreds of people enchanted by the beautiful voice of Nancy Wallace.
The other boat parties were more raucous with hundreds of revellers content to lie back and drift off towards the sun and admire the beautiful scenery for a few minutes… before partying hard for a few hours — check them out on youtube.
www.electricelephant.co.uk
The Garden Festival 2-11 July
This is the one that kicked things off back in 2006. Bad weather meant the attendance was just a few hundred, but by the following year the word had spread and a few hundred became more than a thousand. Getting more popular by the year, they have had to limit numbers this year to guarantee punters get value for money — something UK promoters might like to ponder. Set over two weekends (2-4 July & 9-11 July) DJs include the legendary Terry Farley, Daddy G (Massive Attack) and Mr Scruff.
www.thegardenfestival.eu
Soundwave 23-25 July
With a line-up taking in reggae, dubstep and disco, Soundwave will be one to remember this year ” highlights include the brilliant Nathan ‘Flutebox’ Lee, Channel One Sound System and Bristol legends Smith & Mighty. Tickets cost £75 and last year’s event received rave reviews, being described as ‘The Big Chill on sea’. At the height of summer With Zero 7 playing a DJ set only interrupted by the sound of the sea lapping against the shore, is there anywhere you’d rather be?
www.soundwavecroatia.com
Stop Making Sense 3-5 September
This is the perfect way to end the summer. Three days of top DJs including Theo Parrish, Carl Craig and Friendly Fires (DJ set). And good times are guaranteed with familiar names such as Favela Chic, SecretSundaze and the Swap-a-rama crowd (for the uninitiated, everyone swaps a piece of clothing after each song finishes). We recommend not turning up in just a pair of speedos.
www.sms-2010.com
Although all the festivals in Petrcane cover similar ground, once you’ve set eyes on the heavenly setting, you’ll soon realise why it’s becoming one of Europe’s best locations for summer.
No matter which festival(s) you choose, it’s worth staying in Croatia for at least another week, sampling some of the delights of the country and its islands, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings.
Croatian cool
One easy mistake to make would be to turn up with your pockets stuffed with euros. They ain’t no use here — but that’s not a bad thing.
With the pound plummeting against the euro, Croatia has become more and more affordable and popular. Their currency, the kuna, means the country provides great value for money compared to Spain, Italy or France and with over 1000 miles of coastline and hundreds of islands, it’s one of the Mediterranean’s most beautiful areas.
Relying heavily on tourism, the people are friendly and you shouldn’t encounter any major difficulties communicating in the cities or resorts. And the Croatians love their footy — during the 90s the likes of Suker and Bilic took them to the world cup semi finals. Sadly they haven’t qualified this year, so it might be best not to remind them of this, but if you’re there during this year’s tournament you should have no shortage of places to watch matches.
Island life
No trip to Croatia would be complete without a trip to at least one of its islands. They offer everything from diving to nature reserves, from all-night DJ bars on the beach to secluded sanctuary in the hillsides.
Hvar is the most glamorous island, and its harbour is a destination for the Hollywood A-list, jet-setters, and those who fancy their chances. While the seriously wadded fill the exclusive hotels, the rest of us can still party here for free. As the sun sets, head to Hula Hula on the rocky hillside just a few hundred metres from the beach. This is a place to dance and pose, but the toffs in chinos with jumpers round their shoulders are far outnumbered by people hell-bent on having a good time.
The island of Brac can be reached from the mainland or from Hvar by catamaran — it’s a pretty beach resort and perfect if you’ve got kids in tow. It’s very family friendly and the restaurants will happily shove tables together to cater for bigger parties.
While it may not be party central, the beach in Brac’s main resort of Bol is idyllic and you could easily pass a few days away chilling out here post- or pre-festival. If you get restless, it offers a couple of diving schools and, if you’re qualified, you can just rock up and they’ll take you out to explore the underwater sea life.
Pag is another place tagged as the ‘new Ibiza’, inasmuch as you can dance till the early hours by the beach. A small island with more sheep than people, the population of 8000 swells during the summer, with most tourists heading to Novalja. The bars on the nearby Zrce beach are open around the clock, and dedicated clubbers flock here to dance till sunrise… then dance some more.
Last year Pag hosted the Outlook Festival — billed as Europe’s biggest Dubstep festival. The grazing sheep probably didn’t enjoy the ground throbbing with pulsating basslines under their hooves, so they’ll be pleased this year’s festival on 3-5 September has moved to the city of Pula, approximately 200km north of Petrcane. It clashes with Stop Making Sense, but if Plastician and Ms Dynamite are more your bag, this could be the perfect way to round off the festival season.
www.outlookfestival.com
If you like your festivals corporate, you could do worse than going to the T Mobile INmusic festival in Zagreb on 22-23 June. Let’s be honest, you’re unlikely to leave here and move to Goa with the other middle-class hippies after 72 hours of dancing in a shamanic trance… but at least it probably won’t rain.
This years attractions include The Flaming Lips, LCD Soundsystem, !!!, Massive Attack and, erm, Billy Idol. Pensionable punks aside, the lakeside venue is attractive and if you like the line-up, go for it. If you’re not organised enough to plan your festivals a year ahead and can’t make it to Glastonbury, this could be a much better plan. The site will be open for five days for camping and merriment, so why not grab a few big rocks from the lake, make your own faux stone circle and have much more fun!
www.t-mobileinmusicfestival.com/en
It would be a real waste to go to a Croatian festival and head straight home. Take time out explore the contrasting cities (Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Split, Zadar) hit the beaches and picture-book islands and fall in love.
http://www.theothersidemag.co.uk/
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