Another very successful year for festivals in Croatia in 2018 saw many old favourites return and a few new names appear on the calendar. The number of top quality – not to mention FUN – events means that Croatia is proving to be the festival destination in mainland Europe. There’s also something for everyone, whether you want a pop & rock event; a huge stadium festival with big name DJs; EDM; a boutique and laid-back festival by the sea; partying day and night in some of the best clubs in Europe…the list goes on!
Festivals in Croatia get many repeat visitors year after year – but if you’ve never been to an event, why not give it a go this year?
Festivals in Croatia 2019
- Sea Star Festival
Umag, 24th & 25th May 2019
An eclectic line-up for this popular young festival in Istria - INmusic Festival
Zagreb, 24th – 26th June 2019
Croatia’s largest open air festival, now in its fourteenth year, sees another excellent line-up – The Cure, Garbage, Foals and more - 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 - Hideout Festival
Novalja, island of Pag, 1st – 5th July 2019
Plenty of top names already on the bill for the ninth Hideout - Love International
Tisno, 3rd – 10th July 2019
Now an established player on the Croatian festival scene, the fourth Love International has another brilliant line-up! - Hospitality on the Beach
Tisno, 11th – 15th July 2019
The second year for drum and bass magic in Tisno - Ultra Europe
Split, 12th – 14th July 2019
Ultra Europe’s seventh year is sure to have an amazing line-up as ever! - Fresh Island Festival
Novalja, island of Pag, 15th – 17th July 2019
Hip hop’s finest names head to Zrce Beach for fun in the sun - Seasplash Festival
Sibenik, 18th – 21st July 2019
The seventeenth Seasplash moves south to Sibenik, and will bring together an eclectic mix of musical styles and genres - SuncéBeat
Tisno, 24th – 31st July 2019
Celebrating its 10th birthday in 2019, this will be another week of revelry from the crew behind Southport Weekender - Defected Croatia
Tisno, 8th – 13th August 2019
Previously Ibiza regulars, Defected return to Croatia for their fourth event showcasing the best of house music - Barrakud
Novalja, island of Pag, 11th – 15th August 2019
A ninth year of techno for Barrakud in the clubs of Zrce Beach - Sonus Festival
Novalja, island of Pag, 18th – 22nd August 2019
Sonus’s seventh year will see plenty of top techno and electro names perform - Dekmantel
Tisno, 22nd – 26th August 2019
An intimate, late-season event in The Garden Tisno - Dimensions
Pula, 28th August – 1st September 2019
The little sister of Outlook (below), another top-notch electro festival held in the same stunning venue - Outlook Festival
Fort Punta Christo near Pula, 4th – 9th September 2019
Outlook’s last event in this amazing fort before moving – your final year to experience it! - 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!