Europe has always been known for its music festivals, with Tomorrowland in Belgium the most famous. Festival fever has now spread as far as Croatia, and the Dalmatian Coast attracts hoards of music lovers every summer. If you love festivals, this party destination in the Balkans is the place to dance in your swimwear. Croatia offers an impressive resume of party islands and top DJs that will leave you on a party high. Although it's famous for electronic festivals, you'll find other genres. Here's a guide to Croatia's best festivals.
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Soundwave
Running for more than seven years, Soundwave Croatia offers a mix of soul and drum and bass. This festival's open cinema experience showcasing the best of Croatia makes it unique. Plus, in 2015, the festival attracted music artists and mural artists from across Europe as they transformed the festival site into pieces of art. Soundwave offers more than just music.
Sonus Festival
Not content with just one night of festivities, Sonus Festival on Pag Island offers a techno party scene over five nights with boat parties and open-air clubs to dance to your heart's content. The boat parties leave from Novalja, allowing you to party hard while watching the sunset across the sea. Sonus is possibly Croatia's biggest techno music festival and is typically held every August.
Croatia Rocks
Another five-day festival is Croatia Rocks, held on Zrce Beach each July. Although its title may be slightly misleading, with DJs such as Rudimental headlining the 2015 event, you'll find English indie rock bands such as The Vaccines and Shura, another British singer with the sounds of soft rock.
Ultra Europe
Ultra Europe promises the best talent in electronic music, with DJs such as Armin van Buuren, Dash Berlin, and Tiesto. An outdoor music festival that attracts more than 150,000 festival-goers, Ultra Europe is held worldwide in cities such as Seoul and Manila and comes to Split in Croatia in July.
INMusic Festival
INMusic Festival has more mainstream acts, like the Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand. It's a music festival held on Youth Island near Zagreb. If you don't make it in time for one of the more significant festivals, there are plenty of others to keep you occupied. Choose from The Garden Festival, Fresh Island Festival, Electric Elephant, and the aptly named “Sto” Making Sense.”
Hvar
Plus, for those who prefer a night out without the cost of a festival ticket, the island of Hvar is where it's at. It has a long strip of bars and clubs with no entrance fee, ideal for a bar or club crawl. They even have a tiny party island with a nightclub reachable by water taxi. With most festivals held from July through the beginning of September, pre-book your ticket and flight to ensure you don't miss out on your favorite festival.
Lisa Eldridge is a travel journalist specialising in solo travel. Her background in the travel industry fuelled her passion to see the world and for the last seventeen years, she has travelled extensively as a solo traveller, living and working in numerous countries. She has now been to 100 countries and 60 of these solo.
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