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Amongst the many music festivals and events held in Croatia every summer, here’s one that’s rather unique! Goulash Disko, taking place on the island of Vis (12th – 16th September 2018), is the first crowd-funded music festival – 100% independent and sponsor free!

Held in the beautiful little town of Komiza on the amazing island of Vis (one of our favourites – and that of almost everyone else that’s been there!), the five day festival in fact also includes an opening concert on day zero, and and extra Day+1 to help extend the party. There will also be before and after parties held in Split and Zagreb, so if you want to experience a island festival and combine it with the delights of these two cities, this is just the thing.

About Goulash Disko

As mentioned, Goulash Disko is an entirely crowd-funded music festival. They aimed to raise €25,000, with all money going towards attracting a stellar line up and building the best possible infrastructure. And as of 30th April, they are fully funded (and then some) – congrats to them!

The festival knows no limits and loves to explore new sounds and genres rooted in the Global Underground. Expect world infused and eclectic music styles! There will also be performers and workshops of different kinds – non-music related – that will spice up the whole program of the festival.

Iva and Yves are the duo behind Goulash Disko. Having started the night 7 years ago when they lived in Dublin, they settled in Croatia and came up with the idea of organising the first ever crowd funded music festival in the world. The rest, as they say, is history! (And what an excellent choice of location for such a festival!)

Since then, the community has grown even more. There are regular Goulash Disko events that take place in Croatia and Slovenia, and you may even have come across happenings in Berlin, London, Paris or Vienna. Hundreds of artists are now part of the movement.

Goulash Disko Line Up

Among the first names that have been added to the bill are Channel One (UK), of the world’s greatest and best known dub reggae sound systems, run by legendary selector Mikey Dread, and featuring MC Ras Kayleb. Those in London will surely know them – they’re one of the main sound systems at the Notting Hill Carnival each year.

Guts (France) is one of the main producers on the French hip hop scene. His set will be eclectic, dynamic and highly danceable.

Mop Mop Trio ft. Anthony Joseph (UK/Italy) are one of the most interesting percussion based acts in the current world-jazz scene. Mop Mop will perform as a trio, and will team up with Trinidadian poet Anthony Joseph, who conjures up echoes of Gil Scott Heron and Isaac Hayes.

Cigarra (Brazil) is a DJ, producer and label manager of Tropical Twista Records. She grew up in the dense underground scene of São Paulo, and participated in the effervescence of its parties and festivals as well as in the original formation of the renowned Voodoohop.

Habibi Funk (Germany) is a label dedicated to reissuing stereotype-busting sounds from the Arab world; label owner and DJ Jannis Stürtz comes to Goulash with his crate full of records.

Other names on the bill include Kognitif (France), Bwoy De Bhajan (Denmark), Mr Raoul K (Ivory Coast), The Freeborn Brothers (Poland), Barrio Lindo (Argentina), Martha Van Straaten (Germany), Thomas Von Party (Canada), Dreems (Australia), Ko Shin Moon (France) and Jhon Montoya (Colombia), with more artists also being announced soon.

As you can see from the list above, Goulash Disko is truly a world music event!

The island of Vis

Those of you who’ve been to Vis know how wonderful this island truly is! With a fascinating history (the island was closed to foreign visitors until 1989), Vis is also the furtherest (large) island away from the Croatian mainland and has something of an untouched and very relaxed vibe.

Check out this stunning video to get an idea of the beauty of Komiza and Vis:

Komiza, Island of Vis – Aerial film from Istvándi Botond on Vimeo.

Getting to Goulash Disko

Split is the best airport to fly to – see our Getting to Split page for details of flights from the UK and Europe. From there, there are daily ferries and catamarans to Vis Town – see more on our Getting to Vis page. From Vis Town, there are buses across to Komiza.

Tickets for Goulash Disko

Early bird (i.e. crowdfunding) tickets have sold out, but regular tickets are available. These cost 1,000 Kunas (approx. £120/€135/$158) and can be purchased here.

If there’s a group of you, you can buy 5 tickets for the price of 4!

Accommodation for Goulash Disko

A temporary campsite will be set up for Goulash Disko attendees, open from 11th to 18th September. Situated on a protected piece of land and shaded by palm trees, the campsite will be accessible by both cars and camper vans. In order to cover costs, use of the campsite costs 200 Kunas for the 7 days. (An additional €15 is payable to Komiza Town for parking if you have your own car or camper van.)

There are plenty of private accommodation options as well – rooms and apartments in Komiza, with something for every budget. Check out our Accommodation on Vis page (which includes options in Komiza).

More on Goulash Disko

Check out all the information on the festival on the official website www.goulashdisko.com. Do be sure to also look them up on Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud for all the latest festival news.

Goulash Disko
Komiza, island of Vis
12th – 16th September 2018
www.goulashdisko.com

Croatia was nicely featured in a BBC2 broadcast of the first episode of a new series last night, the latest in the Three Men In A Boat set of documentary shows. Featuring comedians Dara O Briain, Rory McGrath and Griff Rhys Jones, previous programmes have seen them take part in various japes – on boats – in Britain and Ireland. This particular series sees the trio start their journey in Montenegro, making their way up the Adriatic – via various Croatian towns and islands – with the aim of reaching Venice to take part in a gondola race there. (I suppose they could have just gone straight to Venice for water escapades there, but that probably wouldn’t fill two 1-hour episodes. Having said that, Griff Rhys Jones revealed that the original title of the show was supposed to be Three Go To The Balkans, but that was apparently deemed unappealing sounding.)

The Croatian section of last night’s episode (with more of Croatia featured next week) showed them in Dubrovnik, Korčula and Vis. Having sailed into Dubrovnik in rather stormy weather, on a boat that was part of a holiday flotilla, they awake to glorious sunshine and there’s a comedy-sketch-like scene where Rory McGrath returns with breakfast for all of them – including some kind of pig’s ear – only for the other two to have decamped to a local cafe.