As recently reported, popular Edinburgh-based techno festival Terminal V will be taking over the idyllic Garden Resort in Tisno this July.
Winners of Best British Festival award for 2023 by DJ Mag, Terminal V has grown from in-the-know get-togethers to major events attracting 40,000 people and top-name DJs. Over five days from July 18-22, the likes of Klangkuenstler from Bavaria, London’s Charlie Sparks and Dundee’s acclaimed Hannah Laing will be bringing their A game across four stages.
On the eve of their regular event in Scotland, and as they prepare their debut foray into Europe,
Terminal V founders, Derek Martin and Simon McGrath, talk to Time Out Croatia about their journey so far – and why Tisno is the perfect location:
Time Out Croatia: How did Terminal V Festival come about and how has it evolved since?
Terminal V: With both of us being independent promoters in Scotland for many years with numerous club brands, in 2014 we came together to work on new projects with the aim of launching a new Scottish festival. In 2017, this materialised with our first ever Terminal V Festival. Year 1 was tough, with only 2,000 odd people attending, but this grew year on year as a one-day festival, right up until the pandemic.
Post-pandemic, we upped the festival to two days, attracted 20,000 people each day, and now a festival based in Edinburgh brings crowds from all over the UK, Europe and further afield.
The finer details have grown tenfold, in terms of line-up curation and size, while the evolution of our festival/stage production has brought us to the forefront of Europe’s leading techno festivals, gaining us recognition in December 2023 at DJ Mag’s Best of British Festival Awards.
TOC: When did you start thinking about staging a Terminal V Festival abroad?
TV: The brand has grown to such a size now and gained such an international following, it felt like the natural progression to offer an experience which brought together the atmosphere and energy of Terminal V at a completely new location.
TOC: Why did you choose Croatia over other prime European spots – what advantages did it have?
TV: We’d always loved the idea of flipping the indoor warehouse that Terminal V is known for and offering a completely different experience in a summery, outdoor environment while still keeping the energy of Terminal V.
We had discussions with various European locations and nothing seemed to hit the mark until we spoke with The Garden Resort in Tisno and felt like the stars had aligned. It really ticks all the boxes, an incredible site, beautiful location and ultimately in Croatia; which had always been our No.1 choice – and then it was all systems go.
Is there a better location for a summer festival?
TOC: How easy/difficult was it to put such a quality line-up together when DJs are in such demand over the summer-festival period?
TV: Both hard and easy. We have a certain distinction to our line-ups which are different from a lot of electronic music festivals/events so it has been great to piece it all together for our first Terminal V Croatia.
We’ve a lot of acts that play across our Terminal V events that jumped at the chance to play Terminal V Croatia. Some have always wanted to play there, but to this point, haven’t had the opportunity, so it's exciting to give them their debut, and also to introduce them to the country. Other acts jumped at the opportunity to play at the iconic Garden Resort and/or Barbarella’s, too.
TOC: If all goes well in Tisno, what plans do you have for any future festivals?
TV: This is the beginning of Terminal V Croatia, we plan to build on this year on year, growing and evolving the brand and Croatian fanbase at The Garden Resort. I think it’s near impossible to find a better or more picturesque festival location, so we can’t wait to introduce everyone in Croatia to Terminal V.
For Terminal V Croatia information and tickets, see here.