johndiamond
Active Member
Croatia 2018 – tell us how it was
Dates you were there: 17th to 24th july
Where you stayed:
one night in zadar at small hotel.
6 nights Tisno in a mobile home at autocamp jazina. Comfy little cabin with a nice sun deck and great views of the sea and town. Right on top of a beautiful beach. Close to festival (£4 in a taxi) but away from the madness. I like to attend a festival, but i don’t want to immerse myself in it at the expense of exploring the wider area.
Clubs visited:
Suncebeat festival at the tisno garden festival site
Those familiar with the southport weekender will know about this. A festival line up of big names in the soul/disco/house scene. Taking place on three stages – the beach stage, the olive grive, and main stage. Beautiful setting
Standout sets for me at the festival were DJ Spen, Get Down Edits, and Ronnie Herel at the festival. Hyenah best set out of my two visits to barbarellas. our festival finished at sunset on Monday with jamie 3:26 and Mr Scruff doing 3hrs back to back
The Argonaughty Boat Party
Nulu movement boat party with Louie Vega and Anane Vega. Brilliant party under the stars.
Barbarellas discotheque
This place is magic. Unreal soundsystem, outdoor dancing under the stars, no VIP. The best nightclub i,ve been to? It really is up there with the space terrace of old.
Best night:
They were all great. Friendliest and best crowd. If i had to pick one, it would be the louie vega boat followed by Paul Trouble Anderson and Kerri Chandler at Barbarellas. Caught up with fellow spotlighter @Tucker that night too. Great to meet you mate
Best Meal:
The lounge in Zadar. Great spot on top of the old town walls on zadar harbour. Brew their own beer and specialise in raw vegan/vegetarian food. Never tried it before but my pad thai noodles and spring rolls were superb.
Top tips
Get sime water shoes as beaches are rocky/stoney
Zadar is a really beautiful town full of roman ruins and beautiful architecture. Killer sunset too. The promenade has a floor that lights up after dark called the tribute to the sun. Also the sea organ (a bunch of holes skillfully cut into the sea wall so that the waves ‘play music’) is pretty special.
Is croatia better than ibiza?
No, but neither is ibiza better than croatia. They are just different.
True, outside of the festival site croatia may not have a relaxed hippy vibe of ibz, but years of communist oppression followed by brutal civil war is bound to have an effect. However remember vip and bureaucracy are marginalising ibiza’s hippy vibe too. however it also lacks ibz's less attractive features. croatia is not full of street urchins looking to make a fast buck or worse.
It was refreshingly clean (never saw any litter or gas bottles), very safe and uncrowded.
My age is a factor here. I’m in my 40s and not much of a techno fan, so a festival of soul and house was always going to guarantee a good time for me
Loads of new music and djs. I urge everyone to check out Hyenah....not sure what genre he plays but it felt way more tech than anything i was expecting at the festival and i was blown away by his skills.
Money spent.
Funny one to measure this as we all spend differently. However i reckon i've had 7 nights in croatia for the price of about 4 in ibiza.
Prices in festival? 0.5l beer and a rum & coke cost me about £12, which is reasonable by uk prices but high in comparison to local bars (about a half of that price). Eating out was good and cheap. Loads of choice.
great trip
Dates you were there: 17th to 24th july
Where you stayed:
one night in zadar at small hotel.
6 nights Tisno in a mobile home at autocamp jazina. Comfy little cabin with a nice sun deck and great views of the sea and town. Right on top of a beautiful beach. Close to festival (£4 in a taxi) but away from the madness. I like to attend a festival, but i don’t want to immerse myself in it at the expense of exploring the wider area.
Clubs visited:
Suncebeat festival at the tisno garden festival site
Those familiar with the southport weekender will know about this. A festival line up of big names in the soul/disco/house scene. Taking place on three stages – the beach stage, the olive grive, and main stage. Beautiful setting
Standout sets for me at the festival were DJ Spen, Get Down Edits, and Ronnie Herel at the festival. Hyenah best set out of my two visits to barbarellas. our festival finished at sunset on Monday with jamie 3:26 and Mr Scruff doing 3hrs back to back
The Argonaughty Boat Party
Nulu movement boat party with Louie Vega and Anane Vega. Brilliant party under the stars.
Barbarellas discotheque
This place is magic. Unreal soundsystem, outdoor dancing under the stars, no VIP. The best nightclub i,ve been to? It really is up there with the space terrace of old.
Best night:
They were all great. Friendliest and best crowd. If i had to pick one, it would be the louie vega boat followed by Paul Trouble Anderson and Kerri Chandler at Barbarellas. Caught up with fellow spotlighter @Tucker that night too. Great to meet you mate
Best Meal:
The lounge in Zadar. Great spot on top of the old town walls on zadar harbour. Brew their own beer and specialise in raw vegan/vegetarian food. Never tried it before but my pad thai noodles and spring rolls were superb.
Top tips
Get sime water shoes as beaches are rocky/stoney
Zadar is a really beautiful town full of roman ruins and beautiful architecture. Killer sunset too. The promenade has a floor that lights up after dark called the tribute to the sun. Also the sea organ (a bunch of holes skillfully cut into the sea wall so that the waves ‘play music’) is pretty special.
Is croatia better than ibiza?
No, but neither is ibiza better than croatia. They are just different.
True, outside of the festival site croatia may not have a relaxed hippy vibe of ibz, but years of communist oppression followed by brutal civil war is bound to have an effect. However remember vip and bureaucracy are marginalising ibiza’s hippy vibe too. however it also lacks ibz's less attractive features. croatia is not full of street urchins looking to make a fast buck or worse.
It was refreshingly clean (never saw any litter or gas bottles), very safe and uncrowded.
My age is a factor here. I’m in my 40s and not much of a techno fan, so a festival of soul and house was always going to guarantee a good time for me
Loads of new music and djs. I urge everyone to check out Hyenah....not sure what genre he plays but it felt way more tech than anything i was expecting at the festival and i was blown away by his skills.
Money spent.
Funny one to measure this as we all spend differently. However i reckon i've had 7 nights in croatia for the price of about 4 in ibiza.
Prices in festival? 0.5l beer and a rum & coke cost me about £12, which is reasonable by uk prices but high in comparison to local bars (about a half of that price). Eating out was good and cheap. Loads of choice.
great trip
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. Great reviews buy both of you. Interesting to read Johns observations about the festival and it’s music policy as they mirror my own. The niche they operate in of House/Disco/Soul is right up my street. Highlights for me were definitely the connoisseurs soul boat party on Thursday. Osunlade, MCDE, on the beach stage. Louie Vega at Barberallas. I was also unsure how Jamie 3:26 and Mr Scruff would work together but it turned out to be great.