Organisers of The Eden Festival, based at Raehills, announced yesterday that they are launching a new sister festival in sunny Croatia this August.
Their most popular stage ‘The Lost Disco’ is flying the nest and landing in the country’s The Garden Tisno area, one of Europe’s most ‘breathtaking’ festival locations.
Eden Festival co-founder and director Adam Curtis said: “We are really excited to be taking a slice of Eden Festival abroad to Croatia.
“There’s a real sense of buzz happening and with the current collapse of Scottish festivals due to over policing and its associated costs, it’s a nice break away from the bureaucracy to more liberal pastures. I think more Scottish events organisers may be looking to do similar adventures in the future.”
Looking forward to the overseas line-up, Adam explained that the festival will host four stages of music, featuring some of Scotland’s finest acts.
There will also be boat parties twice a day across the ‘sun kissed’ Adriatic.
The announcement follows the festival’s 2016 ‘financial blow’, which saw the cost of policing their event rise by more than 300 per cent – from £11,000 in 2015, to £37,000.
A petition titled ‘Hold the police to account, to keep major events in Dumfries and Galloway’ was launched in October last year.
It warned: “Flagship community events in Dumfries and Galloway like Eden Festival could be forced to relocate because of soaring police costs and overly heavy policing.”
So far it has received over 6000 signatures of support and politicians such as South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth have also shown their support to the festival’s cause inabid to keep big events in the region.
Despite the expansion and spiralling policing cost fears, this year’s Eden Festival returns as normal to Raehills in June. The Croatian event takes place from August 17 to 20
