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With summer well and truly under way and festival season in full swing, the question is… “What festivals are you doing this year?”

Despite hosting Britain’s very own bevy of beauties such as Glastonbury, Bestival and Secret Garden, many also opt to go abroad, for the likes of Sonar and Benicassim in Spain, or Serbia’s Exit.

However, becoming an ever-strong contender with the European heavyweights, the Garden Festival of Petrcane in Croatia is also quickly becoming a popular choice. Celebrating its 5th birthday this year, Garden has grown and grown. The first event only attracted around 300 people, five years on; it seems the Garden is in bloom. Now attracting 2,500 punters and spanning 2 weekends, Garden is officially stamping its mark on the festival circuit, and for obvious reasons.

Set in the stunning Dalmation Coast of Croatia, in a beautiful 900-year-old fishing village, the Garden not only offers a fantastic line-up of artists and DJs. but also the opportunity to indulge in adventure and fun, in a wonderfully serene setting. The whole buzz of the site is completely enchanting. Over the course of the weekend we lost count how many times the phrase “this is how Ibiza used to be”, was uttered. Even though this almost made me cringe, not being anywhere near old enough to comment, I can only appreciate it as true.

The whole layout of the festival encourages and pushes a great atmosphere, with all three arenas almost melting into one conjoined playground, littered by giant sofas; free festival tattoo parlours, cocktail bars and a volleyball court, all sprawled under the wooded, arid, shoreline. The main stage itself is more of a multi-tiered courtyard equipped with splash pool (a nice alternative to your standard festival big top). Garden’s second stage, The Beach Bar, is a wooded jetty, which holds the DJ in residence in a faux lighthouse complete with siren and radar.

Bookings for this stage are the responsibility of Bristol’s own Futureboogie boys and they hand pick the programme perfectly. With artists like Crazy P, Hercules and Love Affair, and Henrik Schwarz respectively closing the last three nights, come 2am when the site closes, you’re left craving more, and they still don’t disappoint. Ilija Rudman, Sebo K, Seth Troxler, Future Boogie and Wolf+Lamb’s Gadi saw in the after hours to devastating effect. What’s more, to add another string to the Garden’s eccentric bow, the after hours carry on takes place in the ultimate 70’s italo-disco, a venue that can only be likened to Scarface’s ‘Babylon Club’.

In addition to the main festival site, the “Argonaughty” boat parties provide yet another dimension to the festival. The 200 capacity old wooden galleon sets sail twice a day, and with hosts such as Below, Mulletover, Resident Advisor and Innervisions, to name just a few, they’re not to be missed. Both Norman Jay and Bonobo, (who stood in for Mr. Scruff) left the boat exclaiming “best boat party ever!” and they’re quite right. What better way to spend your Sunday afternoon than on the crystal clear Adriatiac in the company of Dixon and Ame, as another picture-perfect, postcard sunset melts into the horizon?

All in all Garden Festival’s execution is crisp, and everything from the music and setting to specialised airport transfers and personalised ticket collections are thought of. The promoters and organisers have nailed it and with a plan for development to a new site for next year’s 2011 ‘back to our roots’ festival in place, the Garden’s set to get even better. Tickets have already starting selling so I leave you with the question... “What festivals are you doing NEXT year?”



Words: Oliver Drayton

Photo: Zoom

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