Each year a few thousand heads descend on Tisno, Croatia for a full week of 24 hour programming across the cutting edge of house and techno. The festival, founded in 2016, has become a staple in the international calendar and one we were very excited to check out for the first time. We thought we’d do a little write up about our experiences to help anyone on the fence about going next year and those that attended reminisce about what made Love International 2026 undoubtedly one of the best festivals we’d been to.
We stayed in an Airbnb outside the festival site, in Tisno, home to idyllic swimming spots, coastal walks and enough restaurants & bars to replenish you. Only a 30 minute walk or 5 minute taxi from the site, we’d highly recommend doing this, making it feel like a holiday as well as a festival, although they do offer on site cabins and glamping accommodation.
Set around 5 main stages, with near daily boat parties and the iconic Barbarella’s Discotheque, the round the clock programming offers something for everything and we found the enough variety between the sets and locations to keep us going.
The Wednesday night is something of a pre-party, centred around the beach stage, a treat to boogie overlooking the glorious Adriatic sunset, powered by a great set by Gabrielle Kwarteng 10pm to midnight. Putting Palms Trax on at 4am at Barbarella’s was a challenging proposition for those wanting to pace themselves for the rest of the week, with his set not particularly rewarding those who stayed up, given how good we know he can be. The distance from the main site to get to Barb’s is a challenge, with a half an hour bus ride or taxi a bit of a momentum killer midway through the night, although it does almost always tend to be worth it, with many other punters we spoke to listing Barbs as the best thing about the festival.
Things kicked off in full fashion on the Thursday, with all stages opening including the magnificent dome shaped Garden Stage, which played host to a magnificent Mella Dee at 8pm, delivering his usual dose of up-groove vocal house that got the whole crowd moving. The highlight was certainly him playing that unreleased track that has been doing the rounds on social media recently, due to be released soon. Melody on straight after slowed things down a bit but brought added some more excellent techno to the evening.
Friday kicked off the busiest few days of the festival, with the weekend adding some locals to the mostly British crowd, with some Aussies and a few Europeans thrown in. This unfortunately did increase the police presence, something that has marred people’s experiences in the last few years and something Love International promised to do something about. It certainly does add an unpleasant element to the festival, but we didn’t see anything particularly heavy handed, despite getting randomly searched on the way into the festival.
This may have been the best day of the festival for us, with a ambient Daniel Avery set at 6pm on the Terrace to warm everyone up, turning into Prosumer b2b Peach on the Garden Stage before Haai took the stage at Midnight. Hers was the set of the festival for us, with a series of vocal edits and pumping house belters providing the goods. Highlights included Iruka by Alarico along with edits of Work by Pupa Nas T and The Power by Snap! We bumped into her later at the festival and she told us how many of the DJ’s try to stay for as many days as they can, as it’s such a good vibe, rather than simply flying into and out of the gig as is the norm. She wasn’t the only big name DJ we spotted on the dancefloors of the festival either.
Chaos in the CBD helped dust the cobwebs off on Saturday afternoon, playing a four hour set on the sun soaked beach stage that started with pure vocal disco energy and managed to keep the dancefloor moving and smiling throughout, another of our standout sets from the week, despite being early in the day. This was the night of the England Norway game and we enjoyed the array of shirts on display, including what must be one of a only few people in the country to have Konsa printed on the back. What we did not enjoy was them showing it on a small screen on the packed terrace stage, bringing the TV out 10 minutes before the kick off, so we left with many others following. A biblical storm that evening following which unfortunately put an end to all music for a few hours.
With a lineup of Crazy P and Nightmares On Wax in the Garden on Sunday, the stage was set for an evening of disco delight. The Garden Stage particularly comes into its own on cloudless nights when dancers can look up at the stars over the Adriatic to a sea of stratospheric disco balls.
We started our Monday on the Arbiana boat party, which unfortunately Moxie was unable to headline. The support were bumped up the bill, with Gene on Earth, Rosy Ross and Cause FM a little slow to get started but ending with a series of vocal house and disco heaters that really got everyone going. Having the dancefloor completely shaded may have helped the sunburns but it did also somewhat ruin the enjoyment and feeling of the boat party. Instead you can catch one of the later Arbiana boats, with the dancefloor located on the top deck, if you prefer. Later, we returned again to the hallowed turf of Barberalla’s for Shanti Celeste. The lights and forest setting combine to create a legendary venue that almost always justifies the lengthy bus journey to the site. Shanti delivered an amazing energy-filled set as always, that kept us moving until close. As with the rest of the festival, it is a delight to be surrounded by a music and fun loving crowd that brings constant energy and great vibes until 6am (and beyond if you head to vortex beach bar…)
The amount of dancers on Tuesday saw a visible decrease, with the garden stage shut as many headed to the secret island party. However, those who made it to Job Jobse that evening were treated to a euphoric set worthy of closing any festival. By the end of the night, the Dutch selector had all those lucky enough to be present, as well as the sand and sea, vibrating to the beat of Kelis’s Milkshake mixed with Joe Smooth’s legendary house track Promised Land. A fitting way to end a week of pure joy and great tunes. We sadly did not make it to the last dance at Barbs, due to an early flight, but were reliably informed the Horse Meat gang brought the house down, disco ball and all.
Overall it is clear why this festival is loved by so many. Everyone could not have been friendlier throughout, with a dedicated crowd clearly there for the music. There was a noticeable lack of filming on the dancefloor throughout. The ability to sit on the beach, swim or dance in the sea right next to the pier and beach stages is a novelty we did not tire of and will keep us coming back, along with the well thought out programming that allows you to take the whole experience in, rather than rush between stages. All these elements combine to create something unrivalled, with even a trip to Ibiza lacking the community aspect that this festival thrives on. Full marks from us.
Written by Charlie Escott and Sam Hall
