THE DECISION by the Sonus Festival made it clear that the tourist season on Zrce this summer will look completely different than before.
All major festivals have been canceled, and the most famous Croatian beach has officially been left without a single festival in 2020. "For now, festivals held in May and June have been canceled, including the Hideout festival whose audience is predominantly British, and which is usually visited by more than 10,000 people," the Papaya group representative told us while there was still hope that some festivals could take place. It is now clear that the damage is going to be much greater.
Young party-goers, mostly British, would take over Zrce as early as at the end of May during the Springbreak Festival, and the partying would continue throughout June and July, all the way up to August and the Sonus festival.
Is Zrce going to be deserted?
Most of the videos and photos of crowded clubs and wild parties on Zrce were taken during the festivals. These events attracted the majority of visitors, which makes it difficult to imagine what the beach, as well as Novalja, will look like now that there will be no festival tourists.
In recent years, we have visited Zrce during the Hideout festival, the most popular festival among Britons, which was to take place from June 21 to June 25 this year. The residents of Novalja already complained last year that the tourist season was not as successful as the previous ones.
"You can tell that there are far fewer of them than in previous years - people are saying that 8,000 Britons came to the festival this year, while last year there were 13,000 of them," a salesman at Zrce complained to us last year. While in previous years the locals mostly complained about the chaos that young Britons were allegedly causing while partying in Novalja, in 2019, they complained more about their scarcity.
The fewer party-goers, the fewer problems - but also less money
However, even back then, some people have hinted that they would like tourism in Novalja to take a different direction. One landlady expressed her regret for having to refuse families with children who sent inquires about her rooms because she could not place them in a house with young people partying all night. "We want to bring back family tourism, but that's very difficult to do in this situation," she admitted to us almost somberly.
It seems that their wish might come true this year, although at the moment it is questionable even whether family tourism will be possible and to what extent.
Although some residents of Novalja did not like them, the fact is that young party-goers spent a lot of money on Zrce. The queues in front of ATMs in Novalja and Zrće were always long, and the Brits did not really complain about the prices. While Croats considered the prices to be excessive, Britons have always believed they were reasonable.
When talking about Zrce, drugs are always mentioned. "HRK 750 for cocaine, 350 for ketamine. They sent me a message on Snapchat with drug prices. They use social networks. You post on Instagram that you're at the festival, and they send you a message. They ask if we want it... It's very easy to get drugs," young Britons explained for Index last year.
With the festivals being canceled, it is safe to assume there will also be fewer drug problems.
What about over 1000 seasonal workers on Zrce?
"During the summer season, the Zrce beach employs over 1000 people, who will, unfortunately, be left without a job if there are no tourists. Other than affecting direct jobs, not opening businesses on Zrce beach will also indirectly affect hundreds of businesses, travel agencies, and local partners we have been collaborating with for years. The Croatian event industry, that is, to be more exact, the businesses that are earning money from the organization of various types of public events, has over 2000 entities employing 10,000 people and earns more than HRK 4.5 billion a year," the Papaya group representative recently told Index.
The cancellation of festivals will affect clubs, cafes, restaurants... The owners of nightclubs throughout Croatia are still in the dark about what will happen to their businesses or whether they will be able to work at all this season. Many of them were hoping the situation would become better with the arrival of summer and the tourist season, but the latest news from Zrce is not that optimistic.
We took these photos last year during a festival on Zrce. Some people will miss these scenes, some will be relieved they won't have to see them this summer, but both groups will definitely notice the difference.
Some will finally get the peace they wished for, some will not have as much fun, and just about everyone who worked seasonally on Zrce will notice the difference in their wallet.