Review: Love International 2024

I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to fly out to Love International, there’s been countless opportunities and invites over the years but for some reason I kind of just hadn’t got round to it. It’s not much of an excuse to be fair. Although as the festival calendar has grown and grown with exponential scale it has become harder to keep up with those which you would actually enjoy rather than those which have become yet another brick in the wall of the long never-ending summertime in music.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Love International isn’t another brick, it’s the whole damn palace.

As I arrived in Croatia I was instantly taken aback by how spectacularly beautiful the landscape is. Rocky beaches, deep greenery running parallel to radiant aquatic blue and dusty backroads which each seem as though they might lead to some little private paradise not yet discovered.

Set in the town of Tisno, Love International has evolved through various iterations over many years. If we were talking football caps then we’d be talking Pirlo, Henry, Buffon and Casillas. The elder statesmen of the game if you will. It’s exceptionally well organised, programmed and acutely versed in making sure that those who come have a really special time.

Tisno itself is a beautiful little place, quaint and idyllic. You are never as far as a mile from a jump in the ocean or quite possibly one of the best fish platters going.

It’s just a short walk to site from the town, albeit up a rather steep incline which after a long lunch and more than a few glasses of wine can be a struggle.

However, over the other side you enter The Garden site, the location which has been the home of the festival for many years now. Nestled in a cove there are a number of stages dotted across the site, each with their own ambience and sense of purpose.

The Beach stage is for those balearic moments in the glow of warm afternoons, it’s here where you will find smoke filled late night raves by the water and dreamy sunrise sessions for those who’ve lasted until the sun reappears. Highlights here came in the form of Elias Mazian, Peach, Luca Lozano and Dave Harvey. This is probably the most dreamy place I’ve ever had a dance and if you sit watching the flickering lights radiate out over the water its hard not to feel very much like you’ve touched down at some forgotten rave of the past.

Elsewhere the Garden Stage is for big open air energy. We’re talking a big sound system, a dusty floor, podiums and a starlit dance experience. It’s noisy and energetic and the most akin to the ‘typical’ festival stage setup on site. Perhaps the nicest thing about the setup here is its understated lighting rig, which reverberates a full 360 degrees around the plaza which becomes the danceloor. It engulfs the space making it feel connected and contained. Key performances here came from the likes of Optimo, Fantastic Twins, Bradley Zero and Chaos in the CBD.

The Olive Grove is a uniquely isolated greenhouse come outer shell. Compiled of oddly shaped metalwork and surrounded by trees it became a safe haven for the dark, late night dancer. Pulsating lights and a punchy sound help to reinforce the presence of the structure which really comes into its own under the cloak of darkness. Ron Morelli, Radioactive Man, Rosie Ama, Dresden, Chez de Milo, Ellie Stokes and Felix Dickinson were key moments here as part of the Club Blanco takeover.

Then there’s everything else. The ability to sit perched atop a pier watching the sunset before throwing yourself into the cool, salty water at the end of a long hot day. Being able to nip off for a cocktail at Terrazza where DJ’s soundtracked the experience with deeper, less club driven music.

Oh and the boats. We like boats. Whether it’s travelling to the site via speedboat or dancing on the remote waves of the Adriatic Coast whilst sipping Prosecco straight from the bottle. The boat parties are arguably one of the most special parts of this unique experience – a chance to leet loose on the open water, dance with friends and watch as the warmth of the world passes by in the midst of the summer breeze.

Anyway, you might read this back and think that I might perhaps be over exaggerating but I’m not. For a week Love International becomes a special kind of idyllic heaven in the midst of what is an ever hellish world. A genuine chance to escape and remember how to have fun again.

One person described it to me by saying that ‘she couldn’t remember the last time when she saw so many people collectively smiling and being nice to one another.’

I tend to agree. Perhaps I should have visited sooner…

Photo Credits @tomfromhelston