The Garden Tisno – 1st Festival Mecca
Nestled within a beautiful sheltered bay on the outskirts of Tisno lies one of the most beloved underground music festival venues on the planet. The Garden Tisno Resort is the venue of choice for those seeking a week-long summer music festival experience.
It is the brainchild of Barbarella’s Discotheque creator, Nick Colgan. Colgan found a run-down former military holiday camp with huge potential. He aimed to make Croatia a significant contender for music festivals by making it The Garden Festival’s new home. It started to draw in electronic music enthusiasts, and the venue, The Garden Tisno, started to become a staple for those in the know.
The Garden Tisno Origins
In 2012 The Garden Festival moved from its original venue in Petrčane, a fishing village near Zadar. After 6 years of building a unique family vibe at the event. The Colgan’s and O’Callaghans uprooted their beloved festival and began building what you see today. They knew they had found something special.
While The Garden Festival (now Love International) had its last hurrah in 2015, the foundations were firmly in place. The Garden Croatia would be home to new festivals on account of its growing reputation. The Garden then started to host other parties, including Electric Elephant, Soundwave, and Stop Making Sense. From the humble beginnings of a few hundred people to the thousands hosted today, The picturesque setting became something people kept coming back to year after year.
Drawing inspiration from his (Colgan) Birmingham roots and 80s Ibiza, the idea was to put Croatia on the map for music festivals. While different from the Balearic islands, something about the Adriatic was enticing to him and his business partners.
The commitment has always been to host great parties without getting too big and ensuring that unique musical curation is the driving factor. Hosting an intimate party is the priority over creating huge events. And it’s a formula that keeps attendees year on year.
Croatia started and continues to be a more niche destination for festival-goers. While it has gained tremendous popularity and the number of events has increased, it is often mistakingly compared to Ibiza.
What To Expect
The Garden will act as your primary party location if you attend festivals like Love International, Suncébeat, Hospitality On The Beach and Dimensions Festival. You will probably delve into one of the legendary boat parties hosted on the historical wooden boats known as The Martina or Argonaughty.
Barbarella’s Discotheque is the after-party venue for all the events at The Garden, and they are only a short taxi trip from each other. Think of The Garden as the tasty appetiser that gets your musical taste buds drooling for the raucous after-party.
The Garden being close to Barbarella’s Discotheque was no accident. The two form a beautiful yin and yang on the Dalmatian coast.
Both venues are the creations of Colgan, which offer synchronous but different experiences in the Adriatic. The Garden is your tranquil home base. You stay there, spend your days there on floaties in azure waters, exploring different stage areas. Barbarella’s Discotheque is like your quirky aunt’s house, where your night ends (and morning begins), so expect things to get weird and wonderful there.
Colgan dreamed of creating a music festival venue epic enough to draw in punters to spend a whole week of their summer there. The Garden Tisno offers three stages (Beach Stage, Olive Grove and Main Stage), heaps of accommodation options for any budget, and a stunning setting on the Adriatic sea.
Throw in boat parties, a unique family vibe and infamous all-nighters, and you have a recipe for success. Not only does it host some of the best music festivals, but they all happen within two months (that’s some serious turnover).
Dimensions, Hospitality on the Beach, Love International, and Suncébeat are all going ahead in 2021. Each festival is taking place over consecutive weekends and all with after-parties taking place at Barbarella’s Discotheque.
It is recommended you follow local guidelines about attending any festivals with consideration for the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. For official travel advice please follow the links below.
