Suncebeat Music Festival Croatia #storyoflastsummer
Welcome to Split. Round about this time last year, we landed in Split Croatia’s 2nd largest City and our home for less than 24hrs. In the cab from the airport into the City you could see the devastation caused by a raging forest fire that had travelled 20km with 400 fire fighters struggling to keep it under control. Split is a-buzz with a heady mix of old and new. Steeped in tradition, the centre is anchored around Diocletian’s Palace a walled city with cobbled streets and higgledy-piggledy lanes filled with restaurants, bars, cafes, street stalls, shops and Roman monuments (a Unesco World Heritage site).
From Split’s port, you can eat fresh seafood (the restaurants are a better catch beyond the main Harbour Promenade) and take a boat to stay on or visit the beautiful islands of; Hvar, Brac and Vis. According to Wikipedia, Croatia has 718 islands and only 47 are inhabited. We slept off an amazing lunch at one of the local beaches. Croatian beaches can be a little daunting upon first glance, it’s a bit like ‘where’s wally at the seaside’. It feels like everyone from the entire Town… all shapes, sizes, ages and walks of life is on the beach enjoying everything at once, be prepared to hustle for space. Once wedged in, you can enjoy the people watching!
Diocletian’s Palace is a romantic place to wander through at night. Split’s summer festival kicks-off each year on the 14 July and runs for one month until the 14 August (this year marks the 64th year). The festival includes opera, theatre, dance and music held within venues throughout Split. Stages pop-up all over the City with music and folk dancing.
Tisno is about 60 to 75 minutes drive from Split. The small town has a wide seafront promenade busy with holiday makers pavement bathing throughout the summer. Donkey Racing is a tradition that dates back to Victorian times and Tisno hosts the International Donkey Race (established in 1963). Donkeys from 15 countries descend on Tisno to celebrate a time when these hardy animals were an invaluable part of life to the local residents. This year’s race takes place on the 8th August.
My top two tables in Tisno for dinner in 2017 included; Restoran Prova; Put Jazine 104, 22240, Tisno +385 98 911 0399 with traditional dishes and various kinds of carpaccio and fish pate made of Adriatic freshly caught fish. I had freshly caught Tuna steak wrapped in sesame seeds. Plus, Konaba Tereza; Put Jazine 78, 22240, Tisno +385 22 438 492 we had a mixed Seafood Grill to share which I think worked out at circa £20.
Suncebeat is the Croatian lovechild of the UK event Southport Weekender. It’s a small and friendly festival with an old school vibe hosted at, ’The Garden’. This year marked the 9th Suncebeat festival. The 2018 lineup included a host of quality underground House, Disco, Techno, Soul, R&B and Funk aficionados; Kerri Chandler, Roger Sanchez, Louis Vega, Jeremy Underground, Joey Negro, Osunlade and Mr. Scruff to name a few. Boat parties are extra and legendary and if that’s not enough, you can dance what’s left of the night away at Croatia’s most pre-eminent Open Air Night Club ’Barbarella’s’. Located in Pirovac, featuring a gargantuan mirror ball it’s a short journey by car or by speedboat from The Garden Tisno. The venue owes its name to Barbarella’s in Birmingham, a UK a club that The Garden Festival’s founder, Nick Colgan, was inspired by in his formative years.
There’s plenty of beautiful spots to relax in the pine trees a short walk from Tisno heading around the bay towards Jazera. There’s a yummy bakers in Tisno if you want to take lunch. It’s rock bathing (not sand) and you can expect to swim in crystal blue waters. Take a pair of reef shoes to avoid being spiked by a rogue sea urchin hiding between the rocks.
One of my favourite places in Tisno to take a swim and watch the world go by.
‘The Smile’ portrait of my favourite lady in Tisno.
Krka National Park is a 40 min drive from Tisno. We took the boat trip along the river and went for a dip (with everyone else) in the warm and slightly slimy waters of the Skradinski buk waterfall. It’s slippy getting in/out so unless you plan to enter on all fours take some reef shoes.
Getting a sense of perspective, we took a walk on the wild side.. in flip flops (probably not the best idea) and stumbled across this awesome view of the Island of Murter.
Next year 2019, marks the 10th anniversary of Suncebeat. And on that note, I’ll leave you with a message in a bottle ‘Plan special moments for the people you love. Do something for them that will make their lives happier’.