Hidden in a secluded bay a group of young traveling enthusiasts Petra, Jurica, Mario, Uros, Dimitri and Jelena gathered last week a community of 140 escape seekers from Belgrade, Rijeka, Berlin, Zagreb, Stockholm, Paris and New York for the first edition of ESCAPE Community project. We joined them on Saturday for the last two days of their adventure in order to try to get to the bottom of what exactly in hidden behind this mysterious new tourist venture taking place on island Hvar.
After finding almost no information about the venue among the locals,a we went directly to the source -the first lady behind the project- Petra Uzelac. After reciving few guidlines via sms we took an hour-long ride through freshly dug makadam to finally be welcomed by Petra at info desk under the heavy pine shade. With green bracelets marking us as official “escapers” we set on a little tour of the place.
“This is actually our “zero” edition. We have been developing the idea for two years now and with Jurica (Žile) acquiring the infrastructure it all came together this summer. We united camping with organic local cusine and a bar in order to provide comfort and we offered a wide variety of additional activities like art workshops, healing zone, morning and evening yoga and meditation for zen (and hangovers), snorkelling, scuba-diving and boat excursions to the nearby island of Zecevo” Petra explains, moving deeper into the community.
As we walked we were greeted by numerous young people relaxing in hammocks, sunbathing on the veranda or playing with their children in front of their tents. We took a drink and perched on the edge of little stone arena to observe a game of french boules taking place inside. Petra and her sister Dragana have been in the business of travel since college, organising travelling tours for students in the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and beyond. “This is how we meet most of the people who are here with us. Around 40 of them are volunteers on the project who have helped us put this together, from cleaning the property to arranging the programme.
With the sun setting in the deep pine woods behind us, we took the last swim of the day to refresh for the evening. Around 9pm cheerful crowd started to gather in one larger plot which once, long time ago, must have been a typicaly Dalmatian field sorounded by stone wall built up from stones cleaned out of the poor soil and placed around it in order to prevent erosion. Tonight it sprouted a different kind of fruit. When Ilija Ludvig stepped onto the stage under the pine trees, excitement filled the air and with the first tackts of his music we realised that preforming artists at ESCAPE Community might be its most precious gem. True, raw, unedited and direct music filled the air and excited the crowd long into the night.
Following day music continued. On the beach, in the shades or at the bar it was not only played but also composed and commented by the stanbyers giving this venue a vibe of an art colony. The last day at the ESCAPE Community was marked by the surprise aucustic performance of Ilija Duni and Trajce Nikolovski (TI) at stone arena mesmorising “escapers” with their emotional lyrics and soft melodies. A perfect introduction to the evening’s concert of Dukat aka Stray Dogg who’s jaw-dropping voice literally hipnotized everyone. To round up the last night at the Island, DJ Ewox keept everyone up long into the farewell dawn.
Parting from ESCAPE Community’s “zero” edition we only wish to see it continue providing everyone an opportunity to escape to island Hvar with affordable price tag for alternative indulgences in sun, sea and true artistic festival spirit that they provide. Follow them on their official website or Facebook page and sieze your chance to escape.
Learn more about Escape Community on the official website.
