2023 was an absolutely storming year for festivals in Croatia, with some kind of event or other taking place on Croatia’s coast practically every week from June to September! 2024 looks like it will be a repeat with details emerging of the excellent events that will take place. There are all the regulars on the Croatian festival calendar plus some welcome returnees. Take a look below for details of what’s taking place and where.
Festivals in Croatia 2024
- Sea Star Festival
Umag, 24th & 25th May 2024
Part of the ‘Exit family’ of festivals, this event normally kicks off the festival calendar each year - Gates of Agartha
Cave Romane near Pula, 7th & 8th June 2024
Back for the second in this awesome location – a former Roman quarry - LMF Festival
Zagreb, 7th & 8th June 2024
Electro fun on the shores of Lake Jarun - Flows Festival
Ugljan, 12th – 16th June 2024
Electro music in an intimate setting – only 200 attendees – on the gorgeous Ugljan, Flows moves to a prime June slot for 2024 - Mystic Mountain Festival
Rudopolje, 17th – 23rd June 2024
An intimate week-long event that’s part music festival, part nature retreat!
- Hideout Festival
Zrce Beach, island of Pag, 23rd – 27th June 2024
Now in its twelfth year, one of the most popular festivals in Croatia - INmusic Festival
Zagreb, 24th – 26th June 2024
After taking a break for a year, INmusic makes a very welcome return with some excellent headliners - Verknipt Croatia
Zrce Beach, island of Pag, 30th June – 4th July 2024
Hard techno comes to Zrce Beach with a new festival for 2024 - Hospitality on the Beach
Tisno, 2nd – 9th July 2024
Drum and bass heaven in this idyllic location
- Bear Stone Festival
Donje Primislje (near Karlovac), 4th – 7th July 2024
Something completely different – desert/stoner rock in the beautiful Croatian interior, now extended to 4 days - Hospitality on the Beach
Tisno, 4th.- 9th July 2024
Back in Tisno once again for more drum ‘n’ bass fun in the sun - Dropzone
Zrce Beach, island of Pag, 7th – 12th July 2024
Hard dance in Novalja’s beachside clubs - Love International
Tisno, 10th – 16th July 2024
Love International will be its usual amazing self in 2024 with a host of excellent names on the bill - Ultra Europe
Split, 12th – 14th July 2024
One of the largest festivals in Croatia, Ultra Europe celebrates its tenth anniversary this year! - Day & Night
Zrce Beach, island of Pag, 15th – 18th July 2024
Top DJs in the main clubs of Zrce Beach - Unkonscious
Zrce Beach, Island of Pag, 16th – 19th July 2024
Trance hits the clubs of Zrce Beach
- Terminal V
Tisno, 18th – 22nd July 2024
The heart of techo culture comes to the Croatian coast - Outlook Origins
Tisno, 25th – 29th July 2024
Outlook returns to its Dalmatian origins once again - Flamingo Republic
Zrce Beach, island of Pag, 29th July – 1st August 2024
Total exuberance in Zrce Beach’s clubs - Membrain Festival
Sibenik, 1st – 4th August 2024
All about bass culture, the ninth edition of Membrain is here - Defected Croatia
Tisno, 1st – 4th August 2024
Previously Ibiza regulars, Defected return to Croatia to showcase the best of house music - Mo:Dem
Primislje, 5th – 11th August 2024
A psychedelic rave with stunning art and visuals in the forest - Barrakud
Zrce Beach, island of Pag, 11th – 15th August 2024
Techno in the clubs of Zrce Beach
- Sonus Festival
Zrce Beach, island of Pag, 18th – 22nd August 2024
Sonus will present another crop of top techno and electro names on their bill - Dekmantel
Tisno, 22nd – 26th August 2024
An intimate, late-season event in The Garden Tisno - Summer Peak
Zrce Beach, island of Pag, 24th – 31st August 2024
Rounding off the season in Novalja - Dimensions
Tisno, 29th August – 2nd September 2024
In its 12th year, Dimensions rounds off the season in Tisno - Goulash Disko
Komiza, island of Vis, 18th – 22nd September 2024
A super-chilled and very fun festival on the lovely island of Vis
Festivals in Croatia 2023
For the time being, whilst we update this page and whilst some festivals have yet to announce 2024 plans, we’ll keep details of 2023’s events here too.
- Seasplash Festival
Sibenik, 20th – 23rd July 2023
The 21st – and final – Seasplash; head down to Sibenik to see this festival off in style - SuncéBeat
Tisno, 20th – 27th July 2023
Another week of revelry from the crew behind Southport Weekender - Sea Dance in Exile
Malinska, island of Krk, 17th – 19th August 2023
A festival that’s moved location from Montenegro to Croatia this year ((hence the name)
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 are some reviews of festivals held in previous years:
- 10 things a session in Croatia taught us (Mixmag, 19th September 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 September 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.
First held in 2000 as a protest against the political system at the time, 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!
The team behind the Exit Festival have also expanded to host multiple festivals in different countries in this part of the world. As well as the Sea Star Festival in Croatia (see above), there’s the Sea Dance Festival in Budva, Montenegro and the No Sleep Festival in Belgrade, Serbia – amongst others.