SHIP Festival is a loud, late-summer blast of music discovery

Some look at best indifferent or bemused, as if caught unexpectedly in the flash of a candid, 15th-century snapshot, but most carry an aged but surprisingly well-kept scowl. Follow this frowning frieze for too long and you begin to feel like they’re trying to tell you something; a gargoyle-like pout seems to mouth go home. But then a rumble from above pulls your attention back to this golden-bright square and all the charming streets snaking off from it. There are tourists and newlyweds laughing, but something else is in the air.

This old harbour town on the Dalmatian coast, where the striking Krka river blends into the Adriatic Sea, is otherwise sleepy and slow-paced, but over three days in September, it is home to SHIP, a showcase festival now in its third year. That muffled noise up in the distance is of bands from London to Belgrade soundchecking ahead of the evening, but not from any old venue. Well, it is old – ten centuries to be precise, but the mighty St. Michael’s Fortress plays the role of main stage at this festival, with bands alternating between Deck in its outdoor amphitheater and the smaller Hull behind it. Truth be told, there are more and more festivals popping up in stunning locations in Europe that, for those lucky to attend a few, you might take it for granted for a moment. But this here in Šibenik is a gem, one whose location lends itself not only to awe but also to practicality.

“Šibenik was our number one option from the very beginning,” explains We Move Music Croatia’s Mirko Burazer, one of the festival’s organisers who looks at you with the warmth of someone who’s known you for years. “The infrastructure, the sea, the hospitality—it was a no-brainer. Of course, it would have been much easier to set everything up in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital and biggest city, but then we would lose the charm and the relaxed atmosphere that flows through the whole festival.”

Šibenik’s old town is the kind of place you feel guilty having your phone out, where narrow alleyways lead into small squares with charming cafés and where the greens of painted wooden shutters and hanging plants contrast regally against the ubiquitous cream of Brač limestone. But for the first day or two, this labyrinth requires constant use of Google Maps to avoid getting lost en route to a venue. There are several moments like this when I think I’m running very late, only to find everything is between four and seven minutes away.

​It’s hard to get your head around, especially when you see the town sitting steeply from the neighbouring Banj beach, but walk down the fortress steps and within minutes you’re at Azimut, a kooky waterfront venue at the heart of the festival. During the day, the place holds panels upstairs while at night its clubroom hosts bands such as Austria’s AI-inspired Lucy Dreams and Italy’s eclectic (“post-teenage”) indie-rockers Stain. But it’s all about Green, a small stage outside it, where on Friday night Icelandic trio Inspector Spacetime prove that this is where the party really happens. These guys put the donk in bonkers, dropping Charli xcx-esque hedonistic bangers (“Catch Planes”) next to gooey disco-pop (“Kenndu mér”) and indie-sleaze era dance punk (“Party at My House”). It might be better suited at Tunel, an old World War Two bunker turned booming dance club a short transfer away, but with top energy and indisputable bangers, it really doesn’t matter.

​But the location is not SHIP’s only trump card. The tagline of this year’s event is Network and Chill, which in truth feels a little outdated and cheesy, at odds with their progressive booking and strong and edgy visual aesthetic. But it is true that chilled networking makes up a significant chunk of the day at SHIP. During a Saturday afternoon boat party, casual meetings take place in the hull between delegates from a broad stretch of Europe, while up on deck, those with sea legs mingle organically. But chill shouldn’t be conflated with lightweight – the conference programme packs a punch at SHIP, pulling in authoritative names that give its panels some serious clout. Discussing topics ranging from The Vital Role of Venues in Europe’s Music Scene and What Labels Look For In New Talent to What’s In Your Digital Toolbox and Radio’s Role In Shaping New Music Icons, festival goers can see the likes of Mark Bona from Sziget Festival, City Slang Records’ Christof Ellinghaus, Ellie Rumbold of Partisan Records or Lisa Branigan from Glastonbury’s Green Futures Fields.

​The crème de la crème, though, is a keynote speech from KEXP’s DJ Kevin Cole, who recently retired from his signature show Drive Time. During the panel, and throughout the festival, if you happen to bump into him, the 69-year-old looks back on his 50-year career, sharing anecdotes on DJing for Prince and reflecting on the decisions that made KEXP so globally influential. For those who grew up watching the channel’s YouTube sessions, Cole represents that cool uncle figure and is even more so in person, catching acts he’s promised to see or even spinning vintage Czech and Croatian records on a boat. His industry gravitas, balanced out by an easy warmth, neatly reflects the rewarding but genuine connections that the conference side of SHIP hopes to facilitate.

​If all this borders on sounding a bit too ‘biz’, enter Chachy, a young rapper from Aberdeen. I meet him and his best mate, who has come along for the ride, in Azimut on Wednesday night, before the festival has really begun. Over the next few days, I see his eyes get wider and brighter as he takes it all in, constantly getting used to the fact he’s playing here on Saturday night. “See how I’m here,” he tells me as we queue for a drink, “this doesn’t happen to guys like me. All my mates in Aberdeen become tradies, not rappers.” He’s here after applying to play with the backing of Pitch Scotland – another tangible example of how important these cultural exchanges can be for young artists.

If I’m honest, I start to get a bit nervous for him as the days go by, but as he takes to the Green stage late on the final evening, he puts the full force of his excitement behind his bars, having to take a breath and dial himself in. Having just seen KOIKOI tear up in the fortress for the most raucous performance of the festival with punchy riffs but harmonised Serbian, it’s a bit jarring to be back by the water all of a sudden hearing lines like “Know me I make P like pounds / Anti-clockwise and I spin that round / I got fans that I can’t let down / So I’m locked in booth ‘til I find my sound” in a strong Aberdeen accent on the wavy cut “Every Detail”. But it’s popping off, and Chachy shakes his head and gleams in disbelief between every track. “Fuck it, let’s do ‘Every Detail’ again,” he says at the end.

​As my Saturday evening schedule proves, eclecticism seems to be a running theme through SHIP’s musical programme, not just in the collection of acts, but in the setlists too. Case in point is Zagreb’s Ki Klop, who on Thursday night at the fortress flit between spooky disco cuts like “S prozora” and “Kali Ma” and almost Franz Ferdinand-esque art rock bops. The next evening, Cambridge-via-London’s Ugly fill the same de facto headline slot, but if a local were to ask me what “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (that's what he told me)” meant, I’d have had a hard time explaining. Over the last year, the band has caught more and more people’s imaginations with lyrics on their frequency, delivered with layers of skilled and blissful harmonies that beguile you into some sort of mystical place in your mind. The call-and-response of “Round the bend / Round the corner” of the unreleased “In Samphedoo” drops into a full-band expanse that sounds as pristine as the water the band has just come swimming from.

The production level for a reasonably small festival like this is noteworthy; SHIP is loud. Down below in the Hull on Saturday night, Leeds band Adult DVD sound unbelievably beefy, perfect for their characteristically hefty drum beats and heady bleeps and blops; their Yorkshire swagger cuts cleanly through intoxicated grooves on the likes of “Bill Murray” and “Because I Like It”. The same stage also helps to accentuate both sides of Hungarian trio makrohang, which switches from atmospheric jazz instrumentals to heavier breakdowns with a math-rock through-line. Tunel’s Void soundsystem and perspective-shifting lighting is a trippy experience, and it’s hard to believe it’s so close to this quiet little town. It makes a perfect spot for Andrej Ljekaj’s textural techy-house, and though the party is going on much longer, this is where I call it a night.

​Croatia has long been known on the international stage for its beachside electronic festivals, but now, three years in, SHIP is staking a claim for itself on the busy showcase festival scene. For those looking to find new and varied music with one last (loud) blast of summer, hop aboard.