After a delayed launch and troubled start, Croatia’s new party island of Obonjan is operational – a visit from The Guardian.
It is not the first business in Croatia – and it certainly won’t be the last – to have a delayed opening, but the much-vaunted new party island of Obonjan is now open for business, and has already been road-tested by international media, with The Guardian filing this report of a recent stay on August 13, 2016:
“Under a crescent moon and starry sky, a crowd dance to the ambient electro beats of Floating Points in a stone amphitheatre – it’s an idyllic setting for a gig. I’m on Obonjan, a previously uninhabited Croatian island that aims to be both a summer-long festival and a wellness retreat – and the atmosphere is upbeat yet relaxed.
Things hadn’t started quite so well. Obonjan was slated on social media when it failed to open for its six-week season on 28 July, citing water and electricity supply issues. People had to abandon holiday plans at short notice. Refunds and rebookings were made, but the burning question when I join the island’s first guests is whether this ambitious project is now ready to party.
“It was devastating to let people down and not open after working on this for four years, but we’d no choice,” says co-founder Dan Blackledge, the man behind Croatia’s Unknown and Hideout festivals, who blames contractors for last-minute failures. It is a shame, because a lot of passion, creativity and hard graft has obviously gone into this truly exciting idea.”
