Defected Croatia 2021: House Music Heaven

As we met fellow travelers in Croatia, many asked why we came all this way. It was obvious to us: a house music festival, what else? But for anyone not attending Defected Croatia, it was a tough concept to follow.

“Just for a music festival??”

This is one of our favorite things about the house music community – that mutual understanding of and love for these experiences that bring us together, even from across the ocean.

Defected Croatia brought together the most incredible community, offering a genuine escape into a timeless reality where we were free to roam, dance, and love to the backdrop of house music and the sea.

The Logistics

Between the Beach Stage, the Main Stage, the Olive Grove, the boat parties, and Barbarella’s, there were endless stages and non-stop music throughout the 6-day event. As hard as it was to move on from each experience, the next destination within the festival was just as incredible, every time.

Moreover, it was easy to navigate the festival grounds, and there was zero sound bleed between stages. A few other noteworthy observations:

• Defected Croatia required proof of vaccination or negative covid tests to ensure the safety of attendees
• There was never a line to enter the festival grounds
• Defected also offered free shuttles to Barbarella’s for the afterparties, a very smooth and efficient process
• Getting on and off the boats for the boat parties was also incredibly quick and smooth
• Really the only process that wasn’t quick was getting beer, but this tends to be true at any festival

Defected Croatia Boat Parties

There were two different boats that went out each day for 3-hour parties on the sea, featuring several different lineups. What was sacrificed in speakers on the boats was made up for by the views, especially during the sunset boat parties. These were 1000% not to be missed! We had to do two.

Barbarella’s

We weren’t really sure what to expect with Barbarella’s for the afterparties and were nervous when we realized you had to take a shuttle bus there. However, we soon learned how easy it was to jet there and back with the free shuttles running outside the fest every 30 minutes.

Turns out, making the quick trip there was 1000% worth it. Barbarella’s was the perfect afterparty venue. Despite being a European-style, open-air club, it still somehow felt intimate. Every time we arrived, we were so enthralled by the vibes and energy that we were completely surprised at how quickly the sun seemed to come up.

Defected Croatia Artist Highlights

With such a stacked lineup, it was impossible to stand still at any given moment. Needless to say, our legs were wrecked by the end of it! Here were some of our top sets:

Bob Sinclair

We really didn’t know what to expect when Bob came on. Claudia had a few songs saved on Spotify, and that’s about it. Throughout his set, he played a nasty remix of one of them, but other than that, nothing else we had ever heard before.

His live style seemed to be long, intense builds into groovy, bass-heavy drops that felt both upbeat and disgusting at the same time. Zero percent chance we even took our phones out to Shazam or video any of it. We were too busy having our minds blown.

Anyway, you can sign us up for his next set!!

John Summit

We of course had to see our Chicago hometown homie playing his first international festival. John Summit has been on fire and blew up this past year faster than we’ve ever witnessed any other artist blow up before. In true John Summit fashion, he stayed true to his “my life is a bender” lifestyle by playing a whomping 5 different sets throughout the festival. Like always, his sets were full of his unlimited classic bangers and new IDs that we had to keep shazamming. Dancing on stage with John night one of Defected and looking out onto the electric crowd will forever be one of the highlights of our life.

Themba

We actually didn’t specifically plan to catch Themba at Defected. Instead, we happened to stumble upon his set at the Olive Grove while roaming around the festival grounds. Even though we always have a list of our top artists to see at each festival, we always make time for exploring and discovering. You never know who or what you might find!

Themba reminded us of the jungle/tribal house music you will hear in Tulum but with a heavier bassline. He layered a continuous flow of engaging sound elements on top, and the result was a crowd that couldn’t stop smiling and dancing. Check this guy out!

Until Defected Croatia 2022

All of the hard work Defected Croatia put towards this year’s festival was visible in the lights, the sound, the smiling faces, the moving bodies, the high energy (even on day six). We weren’t sure if we would make it through all of those days of dancing, but we couldn’t help returning to those magical festival grounds each day. How could we not?

Tickets for Defected Croatia 2022 are already on sale here. We cannot recommend attending the festival enough and will definitely make the journey back to experience it again. Thank you so much for giving us something so special – something we will cherish forever. Until next time, Defected Croatia!