- The Garden Festival pioneered the concept of the Croatian dance music festival and, in the following decade, became one of the best-loved events of its kind. The news that 2015 would be Garden's final year came as a surprise, especially as recent editions have been among their most popular. (In fact, the decision to end only came after founder Nick Colgan stepped back from festival promotion to focus on, among other things, a Croatian brewery.) But unlike the recent closures of Plastic People or Trouw, which came with a depressing sense of finality, this finale felt more like the beginning of a new chapter. As Garden ends, Love International launches. The new event is the brainchild of Dave Harvey, Garden's talent booker, and the lineage is clear. The festival will take place next year on the same site with the same behind-the-scenes team. The only real change is the absence of Colgan who, in a recent RA Exchange, explained the changes as, "going out with a bang but starting with another bang."
Garden's appeal is obvious. Their Tisno base is one of the most beautiful festival locations in Europe. The main event takes place in a serenely calm bay flanked by lush green hills. The view from the Beach Stage looks like something you might find on a postcard from the Adriatic. But it's not just the visage that's serene: the event itself is entirely hassle-free. That’s not to say Garden doesn't kick off, though. When the party gets going, it's about as much fun as any festival in the world.
The boat parties are where you're most likely to encounter scenes of euphoria. The combination of great weather, cheap Prosecco and a captive, up-for-it audience is a potent one. A half decent DJ performance will bring the crowd back in high spirits, while acts that bring their A-game leave the dance floor exhilarated. Greg Wilson played a standout set heaving with anthems on the Pool boat. Primal Scream, Chaka Khan, Bill Withers, Jackson Sisters and Todd Terje all featured in the first 45 minutes. At times his approach was so simplistic it was almost laughable: all he had to do was play increasingly brilliant records from start to finish, segueing triumphantly from track to track using jingles from his reel-to-reel tape player.
If Greg Wilson favoured big tunes, Job Jobse and Gerd Janson took a less obvious approach on the Resident Advisor boat. During the glow of early evening, both DJs favoured an unclassifiable selection of Balearic beats and melodic numbers. Nothing either DJ played was particularly current nor particularly retro, and it was often hard to guess whether the music had been made three weeks or thirty years ago. As the sun set, Janson cleverly changed the mood, pulling out squelchy acid records. When Jobse returned to the decks later, the vibe turned delirious. Inexplicably, 80% of the men on the boat suddenly flung their shirts off and began screaming. Those who remained clothed were mercilessly peer-pressured into undressing. Jobse reached for a '90s sing-a-long anthem, Dominica's "Gotta Let You Go," and the whole deck lost it. From there until the closing moments, the atmosphere was probably one of the most raucous and downright fun I've experienced. The scene perplexed Gerd Janson, yet he was the only person who could sum it up. "When English people see the sunlight they sometimes act strangely."
But Garden isn't all pop tunes and shenanigans. The days are filled with superb Afro, experimental and obscure soul music that provides a gentle soundtrack for the sun-bathing crowd. The evenings move slowly through the gears, with the likes of Optimo, Eric Duncan and Eats Everything playing various flavours of party-tinged house, techno and disco.
The real ace up Garden's sleeve, though, is Barbarellas, an open-air nightclub located a few miles off-site. In fact, I'd say it was one of the top clubs open anywhere in the world today. The sunrise each morning is magical, and it never fails to give the crowd a renewed sense of energy. And for little more than a price of a cab, you can arrive to the club by speedboat—a mode of transport second only to helicopter in the bragging stakes. Highlights of Barbarellas included Ben UFO, Midland and Joy Orbison's six-hour back-to-back session, which was a predictably eclectic and ecstatic affair. The Love International night with Subb-an, Seth Troxler and Craig Richards was easily the busiest I've ever seen the club, and at RA's 10-hour session on Saturday, Job Jobse delivered a truly remarkable performance. His set was an almost perfect blend of melodic and propulsive dance music that kept the crowd locked from start to finish. As night turned to dawn, Jobse worked in Fatima Yamaha's "What A Girl To Do," drawing broader smiles from a crowd that had been doing little else for the last two hours.
San Francisco's Solar took charge for the party's closing section. "Shit's about to get weird," he said as he took to the decks. It was a promise he kept to, as he delved into the sleazy underbelly of his record collection. Skatt Brothers' homo-disco sat next to oddball new wave like Numan & Sharpe's "Change Your Mind" and freaky, bleepy techno. It would be a ballsy set of tunes to play in any situation, but coming when the sun was beginning to bear down on the sweaty mass, the dark and twisted selection felt partially inspired and partially unhinged.
There's no getting round it: The Garden Festival will be sorely missed. Their last event was one of their best and one that truly did their legacy justice. Love International has a tall order on their hands if it's to replicate the magic of this much-adored event. Here's wholeheartedly hoping they can.
Photo credit: Casper Bier / Nikolina Mimić Dujmović