This Hideout Festival Review + Guide should encompass all you could possibly want to know about this festival full of sun, sea, and super-clubs. After my third summer working in Croatia, it was about damn time I made it up to this brilliant music festival.
This was a fantastic introduction to Pag Island’s infamous Zrce Beach, which is on the northern coast of Croatia. It was honestly unlike any festival I have been to before, occurring on the beach with stages between 5 of the huge clubs on the water.
But First, need to Know Anything Else About Croatia?
- 15 Top Festivals in Croatia
- Best Places to Visit in Croatia (Travel Guide)
- Day Trips from Split Croatia
If you enjoy a setting for young people and want to explore more of Croatia, make sure to check out my sailing company Fjaka Sail which offers affordable luxury Croatia sailing tours for young professionals and young at heart, with a different beautiful stop in Dalmatia (the southern part of Croatia) each day. It’s the best way to explore! Also see my Guide to Croatia Sailing Tours for more info.
Keep reading for my 17-category Hideout Festival review, including info on Hideout stages, accommodation, camping, tickets, travel and Hideout accommodation packages, festival outfits, and all kinds of tips for Hideout Croatia! Packages are now on sale for this year – click below.
Hideout Festival Venue + Stages
Hideout Festival Croatia is held on Zrce Beach, which is basically the Ibiza of Croatia (and, honestly, rivals it!). Zrce (pronounced zur-chay) is kind of like Vegas meets Ibiza and had little beach babies that grew into super clubs on the water in Croatia. It’s cool.
Zrce is situated along a large curving bay with warm Adriatic Sea lapping up onto its pebbly beach, and is dotted with these incredible clubs. It’s not too much more than a kilometer from one end of Zrce to the other, and along this stretch there are 5 main clubs, all of which are open-air.
At Hideout Festival these clubs function just like stages at a normal festival, but with their own security, bars, pools, tables, lighting setups, etc.
How Hideout Works with Clubs as Stages
For the festival, you are able to move freely between these 5 main clubs and all sorts of smaller little arenas as well. And this is honestly AWESOME.
Imagine if you were in Vegas with free movement between all the clubs whenever you wanted, and they were all within walking distance with equally awesome parties going on at each one?! That’s basically what Hideout festival is and what the Hideout stages are.
The clubs have pool/day parties during the day and become nightclubs at night. I can only describe them to be the most massive, decked-out, and incredible clubs EVER with huge sound and lighting systems and unbelievable production value.
Hideout is unique because it isn’t ‘put on’ or built just for the weekend; all the clubs exist there anyways and are simply opened up to everyone during the festival week. So, it’s pretty special.
Another amazing thing was that there are little shops between the clubs selling water, snacks, and drinks for a fraction of the club prices. So, it isn’t like a general club where the drink prices are out of this world – you can simply walk out, buy a cheap beer, and drink it before coming back in. This is a nice money-saving hack!
Here are the Zrce clubs/Hideout Stages:
Kalypso Stage
At Hideout festival, Kalypso club is usually lucky enough to be hosted by one of the most famous and absolutely ridiculous event companies, Elrow.
If you don’t know Elrow, it’s is basically synonymous with ridiculousness. Think – someone in a chicken costume crowd-surfing through in an inflatable raft with people dressed in neon colors walking through the crowd in stilts and playing volleyball as silly inflatable toys sail through the air.
A lot of different DJs play here from the techno and tech house realm – Elrow is known for its tech house music
Aquarius Stage
Another amazing setup, Aquarius has a separate stage for pool parties and night parties at Hideout Festival.
Papaya Stage
Papaya is the stage where a lot of headliners play, and has an unreal production value inside its open dome stage. The club is set like an amphitheater with tables going up so everyone has a great view.
Noa Stage
Noa Beach Club is actually built on stilts out INTO the water. It sticks out like a little pier and has places for party-goers to jump into the water and swim while listening to their favorite artist! Trust me, nothing is cooler than jumping into the cool Adriatic while listening to amazing dj’s play live. This is my favorite stage!
Euphoria Stage
This is an open club along the boardwalk without any security but just a nice spot to stop and have a boogie to some great dj’s on the way between the other Hideout stages! It’s the smallest for sure and often has more disco and funk music but still has some house and techno at night.
Hideout Beach Party
On the Monday of the festival week, Hideout festival is known to throw a ‘secret beach party’ which really isn’t much of a secret anymore as it has been hosted by BBC radio 1! This year should be the biggest one yet.
Busses for this pick up at the main station in Novalja and take guests to a beach venue about 15 minutes away (and has for quite a few years now).
The views are incredible, and it’s nice to have one day in a different and more intimate venue away from the craziness of Zrce clubs, but still with amazing headliners.
Hideout Festival Boat Parties
Certain headliners also host boat parties at Hideout as well, about three times per day. These cruises have a DJ booth set up above a big open deck with bars. These all last about three hours and go on a lovely scenic sail around Pag island with good tunes.
Hideout Festival Crowd
It’s pretty important to note that all of Britain basically takes itself and relocates to Croatia for the week of Hideout. Yes, the VAST majority of this festival is Brit… VAST. I talked to one of the marketing girls and she said the figure could be as high as 90%. It’s pretty crazy really.
So the question here is not “Where are you from?” it is “What part of the UK are you from?” When people heard my American accent they got super confused and enthralled, and being non-British was practically a bonding point between anyone at the festival. I made friends with a group of Aussies and even some more Americans simply because we bonded over the fact that we were a minority!
The crowd here is also fairly young, typically in their 20’s and 30’s I would say. The festival does attract a lot of fairly young people/Brits as well in their late teens and early twenties as well.
Hideout Festival Vibe
Hideout Festival is unique in that it has more of a clubbing vibe than typical festival vibes. When I was there, people were not as open and social as a usual festival, and rather seemed a bit more to themselves and to their specific groups of friends. I think this can be attributed to a few different things:
First, there is bottle service at all the clubs that costs a LOT of money. Getting bottle service in and of itself gives people a more stuck-up attitude. Each club has dozens of tables, which are usually bought out for high prices.
Second, the fact that nearly everyone is British could contribute to the more closed-off vibe of this festival! If you have ever been to London you will know that it is considered strange to look anyone else in the eye on public transport, and I feel that maybe some of the people brought these ideals with them!
Most people warmed up eventually (like after obnoxious waving or booping on the head with my inflatable hammer 😛 ) but weren’t generally as outgoing.
Atmosphere/Decorations at Hideout Music Festival
Honestly, Hideout Festival’s location is atmosphere enough. Set on the bright, clear, blue Adriatic waters with northern Croatia’s interesting white hilly islands in the background, you don’t need much more! Some people even say that this area looks like the moon.
The pebble beach is set with thatched umbrellas and views of yachts out on the water, and inside all the clubs are lighting setups fit for the craziest club.
In the last festival, each club had a different setup – Noa was covered in palm trees and tropical vibes, Aquarius was all white everything, Kalypso was decked out in ridiculous decorations for Elrow (think – rubber chickens and silly string) and some of the smaller clubs had pools, jacuzzis, and other decorations. It was very varied – like having a bunch of mini-festivals in one!
Hideout Lineup/Music/Artists
In that it is mainly British and put on by a British company, Hideout has LOTS of techno and tech house on the lineup. Brits LOVE their techno! Think – lots of bass and minimal house. There was a bit of variety (Diplo and Major Lazer headlined one year) but it will be mainly tech and deep house.
Some of the big names can include the likes of Hot Since 82, Jamie Jones, Alan Fitzpatrick, Camelphat, Sam Divine, Marco Carola, Sam Divine, Dusky, the Martinez Brothers, Skream, Eats Everything, Disciples, and John Summit. You can be confident this festival will pull in the big names within its genre and often has returning acts.
Hideout Festival Tickets
The best way to get tickets is to check Hideout Packages on Festicket. They’re an official partner and offer packages with accommodation and even transport, which makes it a lot easier.
Hideout Accommodation
Hideout festival is held at Zrce beach, which doesn’t have much accommodation in itself but is connected well by busses with a few surrounding towns. The biggest and closest is Novalja, a lovely little beach town. All the busses stop at the Novalja bus station and go to their respective destinations from there.
Novalja is definitely the most convenient place to stay! Other towns connected by busses are Stari Novalja (about 15 minutes away), Gajac Beach (a tiny beach closer to Zrce), and Barabati (25 25-minute bus). There is a campsite near the festival site, but I don’t think it was affiliated with Hideout at all.
Accommodation Packages for Hideout
The Hideout website can set its attendees up with Hideout accommodation in apartments or dorms, which will come as a 7-day package and is booked in groups. The accom is sorted for you at a nightly price if you book through the website, and you can choose where you would like to stay.
The best option is the just get the ticket and accommodation ticket and have it sorted for you without much effort. If you don’t book through Hideout there are many hostels and hotels in Novalja and lots of B&B’s. I booked mine on Airbnb and loved it but with my current budget I would rather just book through the festival as they have some nice places.
Hideout Festival Amenities – Other Stuff to Do
There is lots to do in Zrce Beach! Here are a few things they had on offer the last time I was there:
Bungee Jump: They had a massive crane take people up to bungee jump over the water from a little cage!
Wifi: Wifi was provided by vodaphone for the festival site one year. The vodaphone tent also had lots of little events happening at it.
Face Painting: there were people going around and painting people’s faces sporadically. There were also girls painting faces in blacklight neon paint one of the nights.
Water Sports: They had jet skis, banana boats/donuts, and other water sports going on from the beach for anyone who wanted a bit of adventure during their festival day. They also had lots of inflatable water toys like trampolines and icebergs to play on, and one of those massive inflatable bags to launch people into the air.
Massages: They had massage tents right on the beach too!
Getting to Hideout Music Festival
To get to Hideout festival, there’s a company called Octopus Transfers (or check out their insta here – that’s how I found them!) who can do private transfers for you in lovely air-conditioned cars/vans with wifi. Trust me, this is an absolute dream after coming off a slow sweaty bus with awful ventilation in the middle of the Croatian summer!
We got a transfer from Zadar, and it was honestly like a breath of fresh air after our bus journey – we plugged our phones in the aux cord, connected to the wifi, and relaxed in the nice cool car with our helpful driver. He even stopped at a viewpoint for us to stop and take photos on Pag! Check them out 🙂
Other Hideout Transfer Options:
Book through Hideout: Hideout has a schedule of airport transfers that you can book through the website from about 10 airports in surrounding cities and countries. The closest big city is Zadar (about an hour away).
Bus: You can get busses to Novalja from Zadar and other places in Croatia; just keep in mind you may have to change busses. I had to go from Dubrovnik and change in both Split and Zadar… it was a long day!
Transportation/Parking at Hideout Festival
Most people at the fest purchased a shuttle pass as an extra option, which enables you to take the city busses between the festival, Novalja bus station, and the various accommodation places. The idea was great – there were different busses that went on different colored routes, and used Novalja bus station as a main hub to go from.
However, while I was there, there were some problems with the busses taking AGES. Sometimes either waiting for a bus or waiting for the bus to leave took a pretty unreasonable amount of time. We thought it would be so convenient to go home for a nap staying in Stari Novalja (a ’15 minute ride’ away).
But, in reality we would have to wait a half hour for the correct bus to come/leave, often change at Novalja bus station and wait for another bus for a while, and finally get back. I think it took us over an hour to get back one morning! So, just keep this in mind when planning Hideout accommodation/trips back to the apartment! Again… just stay in Novalja.
Hideout Festival Food/Drink
Hideout festival has pretty much EVERYTHING you could ever want inside the venue. Along the kilometer of beach are DOZENS of restaurants, bars, lounges, takeaway food stalls, and little convenience stores.
As far as food goes, there are lots of options. Whether you want a sit-down meal or just a slice of pizza, there are tons of places for you. Plan for lots of classic Croatian foods like pastas, seafood, meats/cevapi, seafood, chips, and lots of takeaway pizza.
As for drinks, Croatia is known for being the haven of cocktails!! 1L cocktails run rampant throughout the whole venue, with certain places selling them cheaply for about 10-15 euros (but they would definitely be more like 25-30 inside the clubs).
There are bars selling all kinds of beers, ciders, and coolers, and even bars selling craft beer and fancy cocktails. Honestly, if you want it, you can find it somewhere on Zrce. That’s the beauty of this festival, it’s also a small beachy town at the same time.
Hideout Prices
For a FIVE DAY festival, Hideout Croatia is an ABSOLUTE steal for only £169 (VIP £279) for tier 1 if you buy first round. Like, that price is unreal.
However, you will easily double this with flights, accom, and transfers… and double it again with all the cocktails!! At least the base price starts low, right? Getting tickets as a package with flights, accommodation and transfers would help save you money, though. Check the package rates on their site.
Hideout Festival Security
There is usually minimal security to get into Zrce – there can be some guards checking wristbands and that’s about it. The real security checks happen while going into each of the clubs. When entering the main clubs (stages) you will have your bag checked, all liquids disposed of, and wristbands checked again and again.
Think just like any normal club, but you get re-checked upon each entrance due to the nature of this festival. This can get pretty annoying, just don’t forget about it when changing stages. Or, just try and stay longer periods at the same stage each night.
Hideout Weather
Hideout Festival is at the perfect time of year really – at the end of June. This is just before the insane heat of the Croatian summer, but still generally nice and warm. BUT, as I always tell my passengers as a tour guide, Croatia does have weather, and it can get bad.
The worst part about Croatian weather is the strong winds. Each wind has a name based on the direction it blows, and in the summer there are usually strong north (bura) and west (jugo) winds. Hideout is no exception. One year the Jugo started blowing and caused all the boat parties for both days to be cancelled. Yeah, not cool. The wind here is a serious thing, especially if you are out at sea.
The temperature will generally hover around 30, but some days can also get overcast. This time of year is also susceptible to the occasional random rain storm, too, which isn’t the best when most clubs are open-air! Just know to be prepared for anything.
Hideout Outfits/Fashion: What to Wear to Hideout
I was honestly BLOWN AWAY with how stunning girls looked at Hideout Croatia. There were more ‘SLAY GIRL SLAAAAAY’ moments here than basically any other festival I have been to – everyone had the CUTEST bathing suits on (lots of one-pieces that looked like they were straight out of a catalogue), everyone’s hair and makeup was on-point, and people were generally covered in an intricate pattern of glitter or color.
The Hideout daytime uniform for girls is basically a swimsuit, maybe a small bag or bum bag, cute sandals or wedges for some, trendy sunglasses, amazing hair and makeup, and occasional coverups. It was like a Vegas pool party meets a music festival, and everyone looked great. Check out my favorite festival clothing brands for more inspo.
For boys… just take your shirt off, and thats about it. 😛 I remember driving into Novalja for the first time on arrival and it was just completely overrun with shirtless men. My friend and I weren’t complaining, though! At night, it’s still warm, so the outfits don’t change much but might add a layer.
Hideout Festival Timings Day and Night
Hideout Festival has a pretty interesting schedule with day parties running from about 3/4 pm to round 8pm, and night parties going from 10/11 pm to 5 am. See, they strategically schedule in a nap time – how great is that?! Just remember that it might take a while to take shuttle busses back to certain locations.
Daytime headliners would generally come on at 6 or 7pm and night time headliners were usually from 3-5am. Pretty full-on!
Money at Hideout
There is no special money system at Hideout festival – just the local currency (euros) mostly in cash at the venue and anywhere else. Many places also take card, thankfully, but not everywhere – get cash out to be sure.
My Final Top Hideout Festival Croatia Tips
- Stay in Novalja – it’s the most well-connected and easiest to get to and from (and is the most central!). That way you might also be able to actually make it home for a nap (we couldn’t make it home and ended up napping on benches… sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do)
- Prepare for all weather, and check it in the mornings. Croatian weather can change quickly!
- Also prepare for pretty intense heat. Stay hydrated!
- Remember that each individual club has their own security checks each time you enter a new one.
- Try a boat party and the beach party if you are staying all week!
Further Travel in Croatia
If you can, stay for some more time in Croatia to explore! Send a few days in Zadar before flying out, or explore beautiful Motovun up in Istria for wine and truffles. Check out Split for some amazing restaurants, nightlife and day trips to the Croatian islands and some National parks too.
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Passionate, full-time travel blogger with over 230k on social media and 150kMPV blog. Extraordinary photographer with two DSLR's + a drone with a love for capturing candid moments, epic drone shots, and magical compositions. I'm a natural-born content creator originally from California, but I've been on the road for 9 years living, working, traveling, blogging, and photographing my way around the world. I recommend the most amazingly adventurous and unique + boutique travel experiences/stays and helpful products to my audience and write comprehensive guides on my website that have helped millions of travelers so far. I love to inspire people to plan their dream trips, and many readers have given feedback as such. The reach on my platforms continues to soar, especially when combining cutting-edge social content with optimized articles on my high-authority website.