September 15, 2025 |
Each summer, Tisno, the sleepy Croatian seaside town, transforms into a hedonist’s ultimate playground. Most weekends in July and August, you’ll find a series of different festivals taking over the region’s idyllic Garden resort. Lovingly nicknamed ‘TisneyLand’ by its frequenters, the final big August knees up came courtesy of Dimensions; a five-dayer built to quench the thirsts of dance music lovers across the spectrum in summer’s final moments.
We dragged ourselves to Gatwick at unforgivable hours to ensure we touched down in Tisno in time for the Dimensions Presents boat party. Setting sail on three hours of sleep might not sound like the grandest of ideas, but when the fiercest names in electro are soundtracking the journey, who needs a double espresso to wake you up? Manchester’s Aletha got things grooving along with some tasty acid, before Helena Hauff stepped into the booth – all aboard the electro slammers! It was DJ Stingray who played during our return to mainland, climaxing in a ferocious cocktail of heavy hitters – including the menacing Setup II by Int Main – all whisked together by the masked Detroit legend.
Skipping out on Thursday night’s antics to catch up on sleep, we took Friday evening to properly explore the festival site. Both the Beach Stage and a tiny booth called The Pier are both offer a postcard view of the Adriatic sea. Many revellers throughout the day time could be seen throwing up gun fingers while they went for a sun-kissed dip, like during DJ Perception’s garage masterclass on Saturday afternoon.
It’s at night, though, when the Dimensions truly comes alive. The Olive Grove, backdropped by an endless loop of trippy visuals, was the ideal location for a slew of Friday’s best moments. These included wobbly techno cuts courtesy of Kia as well as the full-throttle stylings of Freddy K. Over at the Cosmos stage which is washed in a sea of smoke and strobes, the energy reached new peaks thanks to New York’s Evan Baggs, whose ace selections included Dahlback’s remix of Panash’s Jack to Jack.
Photography by Jake Davis and Sienna Lorraine at Khroma Collective
After catching London’s finest Hannah Holland shell it on the Beach Stage, we bussed over to Tisno’s beloved after hours spot, Barbarella’s. The open-air club is globally known for its all-nighters, with nights that stretch into sunrise. The first of the Dimensions parties was a Fabric takeover. Sonja Moonear, a favourite of the legendary Farrington club, didn’t disappoint with an eclectic set, leading into Zip, who kept the club packed until breakfast hours.
Away from the music, there was plenty to get your teeth stuck into (especially in the afternoons while nursing last night’s regrets). This year, the festival introduced Inner Space, a place to recharge with back-to-back yoga sessions, sound baths and even a spot of life drawing.
Back on the dance floor and Saturday night was all about Truly Madly. Taking to the Beach Stage, the Mindhelmet label head honcho had the packed crowd in the palm of his hand, delivering a mind-bogglingly good mash-up of tech wonders, bass-y wobblers and pop edits from the likes of Cardi B and Gwen Stefani that had his Instagram comments flooded with track ID requests afterwards.
Photography by Jake Davis and Sienna Lorraine at Khroma Collective
The programming at Dimensions is one of best on the entire international festival circuit, collaging a range of styles and genres in a line-up that dazzles. There was LTJ Bukem, for instance, a titan of the UK’s jungle scene who had the Olive Grove full to the brim for the entirety of his set. Dubstep maestro, Mala, followed, bringing sizzling underground wompers to the Croatian seaside.
While friends headed over to Barbarella’s to catch the SlapFunk Records knees-up, featuring the likes of Samuel Deep and Dr Banana, I retired for the night in preparation for Sunday’s stacked bill. It began with Angel D’lite, who brought her signature Hi-NRG stylings to the Olive Grove, even prompting a singalong with a delicious edit of Gabrielle’s Dreams. DJ Sweet6teen was up next: the Cologne native’s record collection hops through house, trance and Italo wonders, keeping the night grooving along nicely with a genre-hopping selection.
You can always count on Bashkka to bring a giant dollop of dance floor euphoria when she takes to the decks. At Dimensions she delivered a hypnotic house journey that had the crowd bubbling, with hands taking to the air to the twinkling build up of No Sex For Butterfly by Ams.
To round out our time at Dimensions, we headed to Barbarella’s for one last blowout, curated by Barcelona’s best lesbian party and record label, Maricas. THC got things into full swing with driving grooves and an excellent Pussycat Doll’s Don’t Cha edit. Peach and Gabrielle Kwarteng then went b2b for 90 minutes of house-y goodness, with OK Williams taking to the decks to bring the night to a close. We’ve said it before that Williams is one of the finest selectors out there and this closing set proved it; a complete tour-de-force including the head-spinning Klubbheads’ remix of A Walking Nightmare by The Ultimate Seduction chucked in at the half way mark. With the rising sun cloaking the sky in glistening yellow as the closing track Insatiable by Thick Dick (a fab name, we must add) flooded the speakers, it marked a blissful end to our time at this superbly done festival. Round two next year?
Photography courtesy of Dimensions.
