January 26, 2022 – Following one cancelled year and a hesitant 2021, Croatian Music Festivals in 2022 look to return to normal operations. Even before the end of January 2022, two favourite events in Tisno, Dalmatia – Defected Croatia and Dekmantel Selectors – have this week sold out all tickets!

For a whole new generation of young dreamers and visitors, Croatia is on their annual wish list because of its music festivals. Set by pristine waters and beaches, in the guaranteed sunshine of a Dalmatian summer, photos of Croatia's music festivals have travelled across the world and brought international acclaim.

In 2020, all of these music festivals (except veteran domestic events at Martinska, Šibenik) were cancelled. Even in 2021, neither full confidence nor the full schedule had returned – Ultra Europe (Split) and Love International (Tisno) remained absent.

However, if early indications are anything to go by, trust in the summertime spectaculars seems to have completely returned for Croatian Music festivals in 2022. In fact, even before the end of January 2022, two favourite events in Tisno, Dalmatia – Defected Croatia and Dekmantel Selectors – have this week announced they've sold out.

News revealed exclusively to Total Croatia News informs that the rest of the summer music festivals held at The Garden Resort, Tisno are not far behind - almost all are within sight of completely selling out all tickets.

How the lineup looks for Croatian Music Festivals in 2022 and where to buy tickets

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Love International, Tisno

In every corner of the country, you can find Croatian Music festivals in 2022. Some of these might have traditional folk music and dance, others might offer favourite local rock and pop acts who mostly sing in Croatian.

But, for international visitors looking for Croatian Music Festivals in 2022, there are an identifiable number of festival locations and events. By and large, these are the events that young people travel to Croatia specifically to attend.

Ultra Europe in Split: 8 July 2022 – 10 July 2022

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Ultra Europe in Split

A 3-day event in Split with the world's top EDM DJs, incredible stage design and production with a definite wow factor. DJs confirmed so far include Adam Beyer, Afrojack, Alesso, Armin van Buuren, Joseph Capriati, Martin Garrix, Nina Kraviz, Oliver Heldens, Richie Hawtin, Tiësto, Timmy Trumpet and Vini Vici.

This 8th Ultra Europe in Split will - for the first time - be followed by an extension of the party on several Croatian islands. The main festival takes place at Youth Park in Split from 8 July 2022 – 10 July 2022.

On 11 July 2022, Ultra Brač will visit Brač island's 585 Club. On 12 July 2022, there will be an afternoon beach party on the Pakleni islands, near Hvar island. Later that day, a nighttime event Resistance Hvar will take place at Carpe Diem Beach Club, Hvar island.

The Resistance Closing Party Vis is the last event and will take place on 13 July at the old Fort George (Fortica) on Vis island.

Tickets for Ultra Europe in Split can be purchased here. Up-to-date line-up details and entry requirements for Ultra Europe in Split can be seen here.

The Garden, Tisno 2022

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Defected Croatia at The Garden Resort, Tisno

With the relatively recent addition of Defected Croatia, Outlook Origins and Dimensions to the 10+ year reputation of the Garden Resort roster, this festival site can now truly claim to be the epicentre of underground electronic dance music in Croatia.

Across its summer-long run, some of the world's best underground DJs visit this place, its beach and boat parties, plus the incredible open-air Barbarellas nightclub in nearby Pirovac. Each event lasts several days and is limited to between 5000 – 7000 people.

Up-to-date details of entry requirements for The Garden Resort, Tisno 2022 can be seen here. Here's the calendar of events for The Garden, Tisno in summer 2022...

Love International: 13 July 2022 – 19 July 2022

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Love International

With a renowned reputation as one of the most welcoming and easy-going of all Croatia's festivals, the adored Love International returns after two years in 2022. It has been much missed. House, disco, techno and Balearic music in the main will this year come from the likes of Ben UFO, Craig Richards, Eliza Rose, Shanti Celeste, Saoirse, Moxie, Horse Meat Disco, Antal, Hunee, Palms Trax and Midland.

Tickets for Love International 2022 can be purchased here. Up-to-date line-up details for Love International 2022 can be seen here.

Suncebeat: 21 July 2022 – 28 July 2022

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Suncebeat in Tisno

The longest-running festival associated with The Garden resort, Suncebeat traces its love affair with Croatia back to Petrcane, near Zadar, over 12 years ago. Actually, Suncebeat's heritage is even older – it's a spin-off event of the UK's 30+-year-old Southport Weekender. It, therefore, draws a slightly older crowd of house, disco and soul music aficionados.

The first wave of artists released for this 13th Suncebeat includes The Blessed Madonna, Kerri Chandler, Kenny Dope, Dave Lee ZR, Dam Swindle, Miguel Migs, Mark Farina, Horse Meat Disco, Natasha Diggs, Mike Dunn, John Morales, DJ Spen, DJ Spinna, Sadar Bahar, Terry Hunter, Children Of Zeus (live), Lukas Setto (Live), Djeff, Dan Shake, Ash Lauryn, Hyenah, Marina Trench, Lakuti, Elkka, Rich Medina, Boo Williams, Mafalda and CinCity.

Tickets for Suncebeat 2022 can be purchased here. Up-to-date line-up details for Suncebeat 2022 can be seen here.

Outlook Origins: 28 July 2022 – 8 August 2022

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Outlook Origins in Tisno

A scaled-down version of the original Outlook, which used to take place in Pula. The event earned a reputation as being one of the most significant annual events for UK bass music and its soundsystem culture – covering music styles like reggae, dub, grime, drum n' bass, garage, dubstep, jungle, hip hop and more.

Line-up to be announced.

Tickets for Outlook Origins 2022 can be purchased here. Up-to-date line-up details for Outlook Origins 2022 can be seen here.

Defected Croatia: 4 August 2022 – 9 August 2022

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Defected Croatia

Days and nights filled with sunshine, smiles and house music from one of the most successful independent house music record labels in the world. The 2022 line-up includes Moodymann, Carl Craig, Danny Tenaglia, Bob Sinclar, Honey Dijon, Jayda G, KiNK, A-Trak, Boys Noize, Heller & Farley, Kenny Dope, Mark Farina and Spen

International tickets for Defected Croatia 2022 have sold out. The last few remaining domestic (ex-Yu) tickets for Defected Croatia 2022 can be purchased here. Up-to-date line-up details for Defected Croatia 2022 can be seen here.

Dekmantel Selectors: 25 August 2022 – 30 August 2022

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Dekmantel Selectors

A deliberately intimate and scaled-down sister event to the mammoth underground European festival Dekmantel. With a line-up that you could well describe as the DJs' DJs of choice, this year the underground selections come from the likes of Hunee, Daniele Baldelli, Kode9, Shanti Celeste, John Talabot, FAUZIA, Eris Drew, Identified Patient, Vladimir Ivkovic & Young Marco, Carista.

International tickets for Dekmantel Selectors 2022 have sold out. Up-to-date line-up details for Dekmantel Selectors 2022 can be seen here.

Dimensions: 1 September 2022 – 5 September 2022

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Dimensions

Techno, electro, drum n' bass, house, hip hop, reggae and bass music on this 10th anniversary year come from the likes of Helena Hauff b2b DJ Stingray 313, Raresh, Blawan, Mala, Caliber, DVS1, Marcellus Pittmann, Tama Sumo, Peach, Saoirse, Laurine, Francesco Del Garda, Soichi Terada, Sherelle, Eris Drew & Octa Octa, Sonja Moonear, D. Tiffany & Rosa Terenzi, Gene On Earth b2b The Ghost, DJ Storm, Batu.

Tickets for Dimensions 2022 can be purchased here. Up-to-date line-up details for Dimensions 2022 can be seen here.

Šibenik Music Festivals 2022 – Martinska, Seasplash and Project Vojarna

Martinska

Located on a perfectly secluded seaside peninsula, just outside the city of Šibenik, the Martinska venue hosts a summer-long run of intimate music festivals within fantastic natural surroundings. Events range from punk music and live concerts to more modern electronic styles. Most famous internationally is the reggae and dub event Seasplash Festival which celebrates its 20th birthday between July 14th - 17th 2022.

Project Vojarna

Just over half a decade old, Project Vojarna is a dance music event born from the collaboration of Šibenik electronic music enthusiasts. In its current standing, the main event is a 10-hour open-air rave held at a former military barracks just outside Šibenik. Each year the event grows in fame and stature. This year's event will take place on 23 July.

Up-to-date line-up details, links for tickets and entry requirements for all events at Martinska, Šibenik can be seen here.

Up-to-date line-up details, links for tickets and entry requirements for Project Vojarna, Šibenik events can be seen here.

InMusic Festival Zagreb: 20 June 2022 – 23 June 2022

InMusic Festival, Zagreb

The largest and most prestigious event for rock music and alternative in Croatia, InMusic has certainly put the country – and Zagreb – firmly on the international rock festival map. Taking place around Zagreb's Lake Jarun, the festival site welcomes campers from all over Europe for its four-day run.

2022's incredible line-up includes The Killers, Kasabian, Deftones, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Royal Blood, White Lies, Gogol Bordello, IDLES, Amadou & Mariam, Sleaford Mods, Fontaines D.C. Hinds, The Comet Is Coming, Dry Cleaning, Tamikrest and Nick Mason.

Tickets for InMusic Zagreb 2022 can be purchased here. Up-to-date line-up details and entry requirements for InMusic Zagreb 2022 can be seen here.

Solardo Presents Higher Dubrovnik

After two years of unforgettable sell out shows in Dubrovnik, mighty Manchester duo Solardo aim for a hat trick in 2022. In conjunction with Pollen Presents, Solardo announce their largest festival to date from September 23-27th: The pair curate their biggest ever line up with international tastemakers, showcasing some of the world's top house and techno talent, a testament to the Manchester duo’s musical depth. The first wave of names include Marco Carola, FJAAK, Nicole Moudaber, Mall Grab, Maya Jane Coles, Vintage Culture, Nic Fanciulli, Lee Foss and many more. After multiple sell out shows at WHP, Circus Liverpool & London, Higher is now set to grow into a multi venue event across this historic city

Lineup: Solardo, Marco Carola, Mall Grab, FJAAK, Nicole Moudaber, Maya Jane Coles, Vintage Culture, Nic Fanciulli, Lee Foss + more

Tickets: https://pollen.co/x/solardo-dubrovnik-2022-1

Date: 23rd - 27th September

Location: Dubrovnik, Croatia

BSH Island

BSH Island is one of the jewels in the Croatian festival crown and has been leading the way in the local scene in recent years. Its first edition in 2020 brought something new to the region, and the follow up in 2021 made a mark on the international stage and now it returns to Island of Pag for the bigger than ever third edition. This follows two much talked about festivals on Zrce Beach - BSH Island, which included a legendary party in the breathtaking 17th century Fortress overlooking the sea hosted by Amnesia Ibiza, and the epic Amnesia takeover Croatia festival. It was a truly unique experience that offered something completely fresh away from the clubs on Zrce beach, and when you add in the fact that accommodation came in the form of a beautiful yacht docked at Noa Beach Club, it's no wonder BSH Island has made such a special impact. 

Lineup: Archie Hamilton, Ben Sterling, Blackchild, Dennis Cruz, Paco Osuna, wAFF + more

Tickets: https://www.noa-zrce.com/en/events/bsh-island-2022

Date: 29th June - 3rd July

Location: Noa Beach Club, Zrce Beach, Croatia

Zrće beach on Pag island

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Hideout Festival, Zrce beach, Pag island

The summer-long run of parties on Zrće beach on Pag island continued last year. Although, in 2022 you should expect a return to pre-pandemic levels of attendance and hedonism. Along with that, the bigger named DJs will likely be returning in force during 2022.

Croatian Music Festivals in 2022: Hideout Festival

Taking place from Sunday 3rd July - Thursday 7th July, Hideout Festival 2022 is representative of this return to form. DJs like Andy C, Jamie Jones, Eats Everything, Camelphat, Jayda G, Hot Since 82, Sam Divine, Solardo, Shy FX, Richy Ahmed, Sonny Fodera, Skream, Gorgon City, Mike Skinner, Paul Woolford, John Summit, Alan Fitzpatrick, Darius Syrossian, DJ Seinfeld, Maya Jane Coles, Denis Sulta and Chelina Manuhutu will play house, techno, drum n' bass and UK bass music sounds to a crowd of 13, 000+

The sixth edition of Sonus Festival (here) takes place at Zrce between 20 August and 26 August 2022 with DJs like Adriatique, Âme, Amelie Lens, Andrea Oliva, Ben Klock, Chris Liebing, Dax J, Dixon, Hot Since 82, I Hate Models, Jamie Jones, Joseph Capriati, KiNK [live], Loco Dice, Maceo Plex, Monika Kruse, Pan-Pot, Patrick Topping, Ricardo Villa, lobos B2B Zip, Richie Hawtin, Richy Ahmed, Rødhåd, Seth Troxler, Sonja Moonear, Stephan Bodzin [live], Sven Väth, Black Coffee, Carl Cox, Denis Sulta, Desiree

Information about events in the summer season on Zrće beach, Pag island can be seen here.

Tickets for Hideout Festival, Zrće beach, Pag island can be bought here

September 22, 2020 - For six consecutive weeks this summer, the Martinska venue alone welcomed over 10, 000 international visitors to its music festivals in Sibenik. Zero cases of Coronavirus occurred.

Over recent years, three things have firmly placed Croatia on the international stage – Game Of Thrones, the World Cup and music festivals. Running for over a decade now, music festivals are the oldest of these. They have elevated places like Pula and Tisno to become among the most-Googled destinations in the country.

So popular now are Croatia music festivals, that many say the summer season of music festivals in Croatia has supplanted the famous hedonistic holidays of Ibiza as the hippest place to go. Incredible disappointment was therefore felt by tens of thousands of expectant party people earlier this year when most of the international Croatia music festivals decided to cancel their 2020 events. They did so in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

One venue stood alone – Martinska, a 20-year-old site for music festivals in Sibenik. Over six consecutive weeks, all of their 2020 festivals took place. They did so under strict adherence to epidemiological guidelines. And, following a wait of two weeks after the final event (to cover any potential Coronavirus incubation period), site organisers Pozitivan Ritam have released their results - zero cases of Coronavirus.

“It's not only the five festivals and one concert event that we did,” Pozitivan Ritam director Vedran Meniga told TCN, “The Fortress of Culture in Sibenik had more than 30 events this summer and Project Vojarna in Sibenik had two parties this year with over 4000 people. On one RTL television show, they described Sibenik as the Croatian Wuhan when 3000 people were in the town for one techno party there. But, at the end of the season, none of these events resulted in a single Coronavirus infection. Not one.”

Following a successful lockdown earlier in the year, cases of Coronavirus were limited in Croatia at the start of the season. Yet, some were understandably hesitant to come. Music festivals in Sibenik still managed to attract visitors from Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to Martinska. Even after the middle of August when cases began to appear in other regions and international visitor numbers dried up, the festival site was still busy with Croatians and partygoers from near-neighbouring countries. At the end of August, there were no more than five infected persons in Sibenik. None were music festival or music event attendees. Throughout much of the summer, Sibenik recorded zero cases.

“The music festivals in Sibenik are proof that it's possible to work doing events during the era of Corona,” Meniga tells TCN. “Of course, all of our events were open-air and no doubt that helped.”

"When cases started to reappear elsewhere at the end of July, I went to the civil authorities and epidemiologists immediately, before they came to us,” says Vedran. “The civil authorities and the police grant the license for the events. I presented them with a plan and they were satisfied. They allowed us to continue.”

“It helped that Martinska is across the bay from Sibenik. Festival attendees don't even need to go into the town to come, they drive here straight from the Magistrala (Croatian coastal highway). Also, Martinska's capacity is five times bigger than the numbers we were going to cater for. The site can accommodate six to seven thousand. We expected no more than 1500 daily. That was more than enough space to maintain physical distance. We carefully took all contact details for each attendee at the entrance, in case something appeared and we (or authorities) had to later contact people. We also took everyone's temperature. And in addition to the required epidemiological sanitization, we also installed disinfectant pillars at every single point where money or goods exchanged hands. All our staff wore not only masks but also gloves. Four times the civil authorities made surprise visits to the site for inspection along with epidemiologists and police. Each time they were completely satisfied.”

Current forecasts for the Coronavirus response predict that a vaccine will not be available to cover everyone until the autumn of 2021. This has serious implications for at least one more tourist season. Yet, with the incredible achievements seen this summer at Martinska's music festivals in Sibenik, we can all take hope that events, tourism, and even life itself may continue to be enjoyed in the near future, as long as we're all smart about it.



All photos 2020 Martinska © Seasplash / Pozitivan Ritam. 

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As SibenikIN writes on the 16th of January, 2019, the much loved Seasplash Festival is set to move from Istria where it has been held so far, to a brand new location for 2019's festival. Seasplash Festival's seventeen-year long tradition will take to Martinska beach in Šibenik, as the festival's organisers have revealed.

''Situated directly across from the city of Šibenik, on the unique Srima peninsula and at the entrance to Šibenik's harbour, Martinska will open up a new chapter in the history of the festival with its appearance and location. From July the 18th to the 21st, 2019, relaxing in the sun and the sea with the best of domestic and international reggae, dub, drum and bass, jungle, ska and punk is waiting for you at Martinska!,'' Seasplash Festival's organisers state.

Lee "Scratch" Perry, Scientist and Mad Professor - the trinity of still active diva and reggae legends will perform together on the main stage of the 17th Seasplash Festival. Martinska, as the new venue for the festival, will host some of the world's top bass music for its premiere.

Lee "Scratch" Perry, a true Jamaican icon, a music producer and a revolutionary, has the rightful title of one of the most enduring and most original reggae producers and performers of all time. In 2003, Perry won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album, in 2004, Rolling Stone added Perry to the list of the greatest artists of all time, and this year, in the eightieth year of his life, he will perform for the first time at Seasplash Festival. Bob Marley, The Wailers, The Clash, Beastie Boys, Max Romeo, and Adrian Sherwood are just some of the famous names he collaborated with.

After last year's memorable performance, the ingenious dub producer Mad Professor returns to Seasplash Festival. Until the early 90s, Mad Professor and his Ariwa Studio achieved a legendary status with over one hundred albums, world-wide tours and many stars (Depeche Mode, Jamiroquai, Beastie Boys). In the new millennium, with more than 200 released albums, Ariwa created his own soundsystem, with which he travels around the world, to various clubs and festivals.

Earlybird festival tickets for Seasplash Festival are now sold out, and currently tickets are being sold at a price of 249 kuna for the Republic of Croatia and the countries of former Yugoslavia.

Follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more.

In Pula this summer?

TCN's Dave Gasson gives us an insight into Pula's Seasplash Festival.

Because the festival season has just about kicked off on the Croatian coast, we are here to continue our series of best festivals throughout Croatian festival locations.