The bus ride from Zadar to Pag reiterates my love and obsession with Croatia. It’s breathtaking. The mountains and countryside on my right and the ocean on my left. The bus stops at Zrce and I have to take a smaller bus into the town of Novalja where I am staying.
Pag- the Ultimate Party Island
Now, I had heard that Pag was the ultimate place to party, but was unsure of what to expect after experiencing a disaster of a time in Hvar, Croatia’s other party haven.
I know I’m in for a wild time when I arrive at Novalja. It’s only 4 pm and there are already people everywhere, running and stumbling around in the streets, shouting and singing, drinks in their hands. I also realize that I am by far one of the oldest people there. This was definitely a place for Uni students to come party.
Preparing for the Night
I walk down the port and arrive at Providenca Hostel where I am greeted by a lively bunch of travelers in the common area. We make plans to predrink during sunset before hitting Zrce Beach, the strip where all the clubs are at. I really want to go to the Area 4 festival where Garmani and Sikdope are playing but all tickets are sold out. As a desperate attempt, I post in the Facebook event page to see if anyone could help me out.
As I get ready, I get a Facebook message from a guy named Matt, vaguely telling me not to buy a ticket for tonight and that he’s got me guestlisted for an all-access artists pass. It turns out he’s Sikdope’s tour manager, saw that I worked at the Mid, and wanted to help a fellow Chicagoan out. You never imagine connections like that happening when you are that far from home! What luck!
The entire hostel pregames together before going out. The clubs on Zrce have different tiers of tickets, the cheapest being entry before 12:00. As the time creeps past 11, I’m quite certain these people who have this tier are screwed. The lines for the bus to get from Novalja to Zrce are a disaster with loads of heavily intoxicated people pushing and trying to get on to make it before 12.
Racing to Zrce
The bus stops at Zrce Beach and opens its doors. Everyone starts running. As fast as they can. Trying to make it to the clubs in the minutes they had before the clock struck 12. It was a madhouse.
A few others and I get separated from the main group. I look around as we run down this sandy strip of dozens of outdoor clubs, trying to take at least something in through all of the madness.
These places are all huge- concert venue size. Open-air, on the beach. There were so many people everywhere. Drinking out of those huge plastic drink cups and dancing and eating. It almost gave off theme park vibes. Instead of rides though, there’s clubs. It just didn’t seem real!
My friends had tickets to Noa (hence why we were running), but I knew we blew. I tell them we should just try to go Papaya, where I am guestlisted and see if we can all get in. I was lowkey not expecting anything to happen though.
Partying at Papaya
Of course there’s a huge line at Papaya, but with drunken courage, we walk up to the front and I give my name. The girls working get me my all-access pass and ask how many more VIP bands I need (DAMN! 5 please!). One of the girls takes my hand and leads us to VIP. My friends thank me over and over again but I’m like “guys, I didn’t do anything!”
Luckily there is wifi (there’s usually hotspots for entire cities here which is so nice) so I am able to message Matt and meet up with him side stage. He takes me backstage introduces me to people. We take a shot of Patron before heading on stage for Sikdopes’s set.
Sikdope
To be honest, I didn’t really listen to Sikdope too much before this but damn he puts on a good show. It was incredible and the crowd was loving it too. I try my best to act calm and collective but I couldn’t stop my mind from being in amazement that this was my life right now.
Time flies by so fast and it’s already 4:30AM. I need to make sure I can get on the last bus and make it home safe. I find Matt to say goodbye and thank him for everything. He tries to get me to stay but I knew the right and safe thing to do was to just get home at this point. I get on the bus and make it back to the hostel in one piece.
Another Night
By the time I wake up, eat, and get myself together, it’s basically time to go out again. I think everyone in our hostel went pretty hard last night because there are A LOT less people going out. Four of us pregame together and get on the bus at around 11:30. Once again this is too late and we find ourselves racing to the clubs only to get there past 12.
I know Nghtmre is playing at Aquarius and want to go so bad. My friends had never heard of him so they were a little hesitant, but it’s only 80 kunas (the equivalent of $12 USD) so we do it!
A Good Nghtmre
We catch the end of Jillionaire from Major Lazer as we make our way to the rail where we stay for Nghtmre’s set. Nghtmre never disappoints. Song after song, drop after drop. The entire set is lit. There are multiple people messaging me on Snapchat asking me who I’m seeing. My friends I dragged along were sorry they had doubted me!
My friends dipped out a little early and I decide to call it quits as the dun starts to rise. This is the first time I am seeing Zrce Beach in the light. I am shook.
As I leave the club, I realize that across the water from the beach are these magnificent mountains. You would never have guessed in the darkness of each night, that all this debauchery and partying took place within such beautiful, peaceful scenery. I sit and watch the sunrise over the mountains, absorbed in another “what is my life” moment.
Recovery Mode
I take a much needed day of rest planning more of my trip and figuring out Tomorrowland logistics with Claudia! I am waking up and leaving to catch a 6 AM ferry to Rijeka just as people are returning home from their night out. I see the sunrise again as drunk people push each other into the water off the port. I laugh to myself thinking about how truly wild this place is.
Lessons Learned:
- Leave yourself enough time to get to the clubs before 12 if you have a tier 1 ticket. Leaving your hostel at 11:30 is definitely not enough time!
- The world is a really small place. You never know who you will meet or run into from back home.
- You can always count on Nghtmre to throw down an amazing show.
- Croatia is full of beautiful surprises.
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