VIVA Highlights from Hideout 2017

Jessica Tidswell | 7th July 2017

Image courtesy of Hideout Festival

Zrce beach was once again the electronic and house hot-spot to thousands of festival goers for this year’s Hideout Festival. Returning for its seventh consecutive year the festival was the biggest to date, playing host to/hosting 150 of the world’s best artists and 20,000 festival goers from around the world.

Opening Boat Party

Hideout festival’s opening boat party was the perfect way to start the week. Out on the glistening Adriatic sea, a boat jam-packed with people eagerly listening to the first sets of the festival, getting everyone ready for the what was to come. As the boat left the Croatian coastline the drinks began to flow, and it wasn’t long before many of us started to slide out of our sliders as they stuck to the remains of vodka lemonade on the floor.

Shortly after the boat left its dock, the resident DJ’s certainly got everyone in the party spirit ….

Can you spot yourself?

Secret Beach Party

Hideout’s first ever secret beach party took place on Monday (26th June), marking the official start of the festival. Bus after bus was packed full of people covered in glitter, including those who didn’t intend to be! as they left Novalja bus station. After a short journey through the Croatian hills, the bus arrived at a remote spot in the gorgeous Plaza Cista, the next bay along from Zrce beach.

The view across the water provided a picturesque backdrop of clear blue sky, hazy mountains and rocky sandy fields.

Mini bars were dotted along the shore, surrounded by people thirsty to begin their beach party experience.

As the atmosphere built and the crowds grew, people paddled in the sea to catch the final rays of sun before headline act Basement Jaxx took to the stage.

Beginning their set with the widely recognised ‘Bingo Bango’, a classic festival roar of recognition for the song emerged from the beach.

PRO-JECT POOL PARTY @ NOA

The video that went Facebook viral of Sonny Fodera and MK playing their mix of the Stormzy track ‘Shut Up’ was a fitting end to a phenomenal set.

The highlight of the day for many was experiencing two of the best deep house and dance DJ’s bring hundreds of eager festival-goers together in NOA.

Rainfall at Disciples

Despite my previous article suggesting wellies would not be necessary for Hideout Festival, this was debatable on Wednesday night when the heavens opened during Disciples’ set at Aquarius.

As the first few raindrops began to fall there was slight hope that maybe it was the splash of a spilt drink. Within minutes crowds rushed for cover around the bars, debating whether or not to shelter. It soon became apparent that a bit of water was not going to dampen anybody’s spirit, and festival-goers embraced the rain, unimaginably partying even harder.

Without a doubt this was one of the highlights of Hideout 2017,  it certainly unified the crowd.

Final Day

The ultimate day of Hideout began at 6pm, where Papaya was host to BBC Radio 1’s Summer of Dance.

With major artists including Danny Howard, Eats Everything and Dusky, the night for many was complete when, unexpectedly, Skream and Solardo played B2B.

Amongst the bobbing crowd, inflatable palm trees and flamingos attempted to adorn the sea of colourful rain-ponchos with summer spirit.

As Skream and Solardo neared the end of their set, a sense of Mancunian pride was shared by Solardo with thousands of fans from across the world. The atmosphere changed and a feeling of togetherness was felt as they mixed ‘Together (This is the Place) – New Mount City Breakers ft. Tony Walsh‘ and, of course, in classic Mancunian style the rain lashed down to the ground.

Keep an eye out for Hideout Festival 2018 tickets here.