2019 saw another very successful year for festivals in Croatia – many of the old favourites returned to host sold out events, as well as some new names on the festival calendar. These days, the number of top quality and fun festivals proves Croatia is the festival destination in mainland Europe. And there’s also something for everyone – whether you want a pop & rock event; a huge stadium festival with big name DJs; EDM; a boutique, laid-back festival by the sea; partying day and night in some of the best clubs in Europe…the list goes on!
The festivals in Croatia get many repeat visitors year after year – if you’ve never been to an event (or perhaps have never been to Croatia), why not give it a go this year?
Note: we’re in the process of updating this page for 2020, so please be patient whilst we update all of our festival guides! (We’ll keep last year’s pages up in the meantime.)
Festivals in Croatia 2020
- Sea Star Festival
Umag, 22nd & 23rd May 2020
Part of the ‘Exit family’, Sea Star will be helping the Exit Festival celebrate 20 years! - Hideout Festival
Novalja, island of Pag, 21st – 25th June 2020
Celebrating ten years in 2020! - INmusic Festival
Zagreb, 22nd – 24th June 2020
Croatia’s largest open air festival, now in its 15th year, sees another excellent line-up – The Killers, Beck, The Lumineers and more - Fresh Island Week
Novalja, island of Pag, 4th – 9th July 2020
Hip hop’s finest names head to Zrce Beach for fun in the sun - Hospitality on the Beach
Tisno, 9th – 13th July 2020
The third year for drum and bass magic in Tisno - Love International
Tisno, 15th – 21st July 2020
Celebrating its fifth birthday, Love International will serve up some amazing back to back sets this year - Outlook Origins
Tisno, 30th July – 3rd August 2020
Outlook returns to origins in Dalmatia for its 13th event, earlier in the year too! - Defected Croatia
Tisno, 6th – 11th August 2020
Previously Ibiza regulars, Defected return to Croatia for their fifth event showcasing the best of house music - Ultra Europe
Split, 10th – 12th July 2020
Ultra Europe’s eighth year already has some BIG names on the bill - Seasplash Festival
Sibenik, 16th – 19th July 2020
The eighteenth Seasplash returns to Sibenik, and will bring together an eclectic mix of musical styles and genres - SuncéBeat
Tisno, 22nd – 29th July 2020
Another week of revelry from the crew behind Southport Weekender - Barrakud
Novalja, island of Pag, 10th – 14th August 2020
A tenth year of techno for Barrakud in the clubs of Zrce Beach - Dimensions
Tisno, 13th – 18th August 2020
Like its “big sister” Outlook (above), Dimensions makes the move to Dalmatia for 2020 - Sonus Festival
Novalja, island of Pag, 16th – 20th August 2020
Sonus’s eighth year will see plenty of top techno and electro names perform - Dekmantel
Tisno, 27th – 31st August 2020
An intimate, late-season event in The Garden Tisno
Festivals in Croatia 2019
- Obonjan
island of Obonjan (near Sibenik), 30th June – 2nd September 2019
A full festival season on an eco-friendly island, with music, DJs, wellness, talks, workshops and much more - Goulash Disko (details of last year’s event)
Komiza, island of Vis, 11th – 15th September 2019
A wonderful end to the festival season – in a beautiful location! DJs, producers and bands from around the world congregate in Komiza for this entirely crowd-funded festival.
Reviews of Festivals in Croatia
Unsurprisingly, almost all of the festivals that are held in Croatia are very highly regarded and well reviewed by the music press. Here’s some reviews of festivals held in previous years:
- 10 things a session in Croatia taught us (Mixmag, 19th September 2014)
- Festival Guide – Review: Barrakud Croatia 2014 (Platform, 25th August 2014)
- Garden Festival and Electric Elephant 2014: The DiS Review (Drowned in Sound, 27th July 2014)
- Not going to Glastonbury? Try Eastern Europe’s more affordable festival alternatives (Daily Telegraph, 23rd June 2014)
- Croatia’s new Unknown festival ‘unique’ says co-founder (BBC Newsbeat, 7th September 2013)
- Dimentions Festival 2013 Review (Skiddle, 16th September 2013)
- Review: Garden Festival 2013 (Skiddle, 18th July 2013)
- Europe’s Best Summer Festivals, which includes FOR Festival, Garden and Terraneo (Forbes, 12th June 2013)
- ‘Knee deep in mud at an English festival? Give me Spain any day’ (Guardian, 26th May 2013)
- Festivals guide 2013 listings: European (Guardian, 11th May 2013)
- Is Croatia Europe’s best festival destination? (Guardian, 10th May 2013)
- Croatian holiday? The festivals are looking fine (InTheMix, 17th January 2013)
- Soundwave Festival (The Independent, 25th August 2011)
- Review: Electric Elephant 2010 (Skiddle.com, 29th Septemeber 2010)
- Croatia – the Dalmatian Coast and Garden Festival (Scotland on Sunday, 24th August 2010)
- Garden Festival (The Guardian, 18th July 2010)
- T-Mobile INmusic festival: LCD Soundsystem, The Flaming Lips and Billy Idol rock Croatia (Metro, 28th June 2010)
- A Massive Attack of music in Croatia (BBC 6 Music, 24th June 2010)
- How Croatia splashed on to the music festival map (on The Garden Festival – The Guardian, 3rd May 2009)
Other Festivals
The very well-known Exit Festival is held in the neighbouring country of Serbia and is an amazingly fun event to attend – and perfect for combining with a holiday in Croatia.
Started in 2000 as a protest against the political system at the time (and initially a dance music event), Exit has now grown considerably to become one of Europe’s top festivals.
Held in the impressive Petrovaradin Fortress at night-time (festival hours are 9pm to 6am each day), many head to Exit as a chance to experience an incredibly fun – not to mention eclectic – foreign festival in a cheaper setting.
Check out the Exit Festival website for more details on the event; Visit Croatia attended the 2009 Exit Festival – read up on my experiences, as well as hints and tips that may be useful to you!