Calling all XPETS! Incoming mission! We need go to Croatia to rescue the Outlook Festival morning this Sunday or it will be a disaster! Brenda the Blender going to cast an evil spell so no sound can be heard! We need to stop her! So out on your supersuit and let’s go! Croatia here we come.

“Outlook Festival” is held annually in a former naval fort in NW Croatia, as well as a small adjacent beach and aboard several party boats. The celebration of underground electronic music was first held in 2007. Initially organised by a group of British nightclub owners, largely hailing from Leeds, and all devoted to sound system pulsation, Outlook has remained a draw mostly for young Brits looking for a loud, thumping and friendly party.

The largest festival of its kind in Europe, Outlook has grown to attract upwards of 15000 music lovers who come to bounce, sway and fiat-pump en made along with their favourite artists from UK, US, Jamaica and more. The message of Outlook is that much of today’s bass-heavy electronic music owes a debt of gratitude to the island of Jamaica – the festival’s manifesto suggests that without the influence of Jamaica’s reggae and dub music explosion back in the 1970s modern electronica wouldn’t sound even half as funky! Outlook honours the stylings of the original Jamaican artists, but also celebrates their beats’ current translations in the UK, US and present-day Jamaica.

The centre of the Outlook action, Fort Punta Christo, was once part of a network of neighbouring peninsular fortresses built by the Austrian Empire in 1893, when Pula was a powerful Habsburg-ruled port city in need of naval reinforcement. Punta Christo has long since fallen into ruin, creating an evocative backdrop for laser-projected graffiti art and the reverberations of heavy bass. Large sections of the fortress, like a sunken ballroom and a 1200 capacity open air arena, are transformed into festival stages with cutting-edge sound equipment and dramatic, colour shifting lights. Outdoor dance floors include a heavily-reinforced bayside dock, as well as The Clearing (a forest glade barely paved with a a crumble of ruined stone and matted grass) meant ia accommodate the rhythmic fervour of 3000 frenzied humans trying to keep up with the 150 beats per minute. One of my he last remaining tunnels from a large Warren than ran beneath the fortress network, The Dungeon, is the festival’s only underground stage, an echoing space reserved for upbeat rave sets. Conversely, just outside the fort entrance, a wide green lawn called The Garden provides a little open air for those who need a (relatively) quiet breather. For each day of Outlook, the festival kicks off and midday with a mellow party spreading out on the nearby ribbon of golden-sand beach. Festivities continue till sunset when the party moves towards a the fort or takes to the open water.

Sounds great right! So is XPETS ain’t going to let that Brenda the Blender destroy this! Come on XPETS let’s go!!!