BLOG: GARDEN FESTIVAL, CROATIA – DAY TWO

Oops! DJ Mag wakes up a lot later than planned today, and with sore feet from all that dancing last night. Feeling a little more rested, we head to the Terrazza to chat with Nick and Eddie — the founders of Garden Festival and owners of the Tisno site and Barbarella's.

Meeting the guys, it’s obvious to see why they have built such a successful business together — it’s all about the chemistry. Over some cold beers, we discuss the many qualities that make this festival so fascinating. Unusually, the festival and Barbarella’s have no VIP areas or tables, and in their own words “There is no VIP area because everyone is a VIP. Why create a segregation, when all it does is kill the atmosphere?”

Garden Festival is predominantly self-policed, with very few members of security in sight. The customers respect and trust the staff and vice versa, and guess what? It works! It’s so refreshing to walk freely around the site without the intimidation from bulky security guards that is the norm for many events in the UK.

Our conversation with Nick and Eddie moves over to our favourite subject, Barbarella's. We were dying to know more about the sound wall that was built to prevent the music from echoing across the hillsides.

Nick and Eddie got in touch with a company that makes sound walls for motorways, and together they constructed a fantastic answer to their problems.

Eddie’s offered to take us up the nearby hillside in his buggy car on Saturday evening for some spectacular views of the site. Can’t wait!

We are eager to get out this evening so that we can see the site in its full glory, rainbow lit in the night sky. Across the site the trees are colourfully underlit, changing from green to blue to red to purple, setting the dreamscape that is Garden Festival.

Around 11pm we are lured to the Beach Bar after watching the packed dancefloor from the other side of the bay. Mark Seven is rocking it tonight! Can’t stay too long as we haven’t checked out the main stage yet. We scramble over there to find PBR Streetgang smashing it, oh yes! 

The first half of the set is deep underground house, incredibly well programed, leading into a finish filled with disco nuggets and even Chris Rea. The perfect end to the set.

We’re tempted by Barbarella's, but we decide to save ourselves for what is promising to be an epic weekend of music... SHINO ALLEN