The Garden Festival

The Garden Festival is incredibly proud to announce its first wave of names for July 2012. First up is one of the hottest young stars of last year who is already one of the most talked-about artists of his generation: Nicholas Jaar. The Chilean youngster’s critically acclaimed Space Is Only Noise album heralded the arrival of an amazing new talent; his unique take on techno has won plaudits the world over, exemplified through his stirring live shows which he brings to The Garden Festival this summer.

Second headliner Kenny 'DOPE' Gonzalez is one of the most prolific artists of the modern music age. The four-time Grammy nominated musical genius has been entertaining and astounding the masses alike with his fusions of house, hip-hop, Latin, jazz, funk & soul, reggae, alternative pop and broken beats for 20 years, both as a revered solo artist and also as one half of global icons Masters At Work. No other man quite embodies such an embrace of eclectic music tastes, from Nuyorican Soul to the class The Bomb; The Garden welcomes Kenny with open arms.

The Garden also welcomes Tiger and Woods to Croatia who make their debut; arguably one of the most in-demand duos around, since their seminal RA mix in 2011 and a string of reedits, their stock has gone through the roof. And old friends 2020 Soundsystem return; helmed by Leeds’ veteran Ralph Lawson, the band’s thrilling live show weaves house and techno together.

Metro Area’s deep house and disco don Darshan returns to Croatia whilst Hessle Audio’s co-founder, Ben UFO, debuts with Ireland’s bright young star Space Dimension Controller taking to the decks. The Garden’s old friend Greg Wilson returns, a master of sublime sets joining the dots between house, disco, funk, soul and more, and Diymanic’s David August and Solomun both debut too.

The Garden opens its arms to NYC’s king of the underground airwaves, Tim Sweeney, Appleblims’s dubstep, techno, minimal & house flavours and long-time friends Crazy P return too. Visionquest’s Laura Jones and prolific producer Gavin Herlihy also star, along with PBR Streetgang, 6th Borough Project, No Fakin’ live and a great many more.

The legendary Argonaughty boat parties are revealed too, with many of the UK’s leading independent labels and club nights taking over the twice daily sea dog for sorties across the shimmering azure Adriatic waters; there will be 14 hosts for 2012 including We Love making their Croatian debut at The Garden Festival, plus Futuredisco, Get Deep, Faith, The Pool, Crazy P v El Diablos, RA, International Feel v Golf Channel, Dollop and Leftfoot. Boat tickets go on sale 1st March – remember these fly out so book as soon as live!

And don’t forget that there’s a new Barbarellas; once again it will be hosted by some of world’s top club nights and promoters in a completely open air location with a bigger capacity to ensure all Gardeners will get the chance to experience this new club environment. There will be 8 Barbarellas parties with hosts including Dope’s Birthday Bash, RA, Beats In Space, Diynamic, Louche and Futureboogie with more TBC. After-party tickets will go are on sale very soon and tickets will include transfers from the festival site to the club location.

The Garden Festival and Electric Elephant are also proud to announce their double whammy collaboration for July 2012. Following on straight after the Garden comes EE for another 7 days of amazing music under the sun and stars, with guest names to be announced shortly. EE runs from 12th – 16th July. Tickets can be bought individually but there’s a special price of £150 for both – that’s a whole 12 days and nights of blissful festival fun at the stunning new site at Tisno.

Tisno is an undiscovered musical paradise which fits right within the Garden Festival’s esteemed and revered ethos, where the emphasis is always on an unparalleled experience combining festival and holiday vibes seamlessly as one. The new site has its very own village, featuring 80 on-site apartments which can hold 300 people, as well as 30 Indian Shikar tents with electric fans and lighting, proper beds, mosquito nets, dressing room and porch area. There are also 120 pitches for people bringing their own tents, totalling 700 berths in total on site.

The Garden Tisno is set in a gently hilly area which overlooks the Garden’s very own beautiful bay below, complete with sandy beach and crystal clear water. Tisno - split between the mainland and the island of Murter, joined by a 20m rising bridge – is just a ten-minute walk away, is a charming picture-perfect town with a host of restaurants, cafes, apartments and small boutique hotels. Pristine national parks, secluded beaches and hundreds of islands are close by, with Croatia an easy country to travel around and explore its many wonders.