Everything is ready for the Bridge Conference 2025 and the seventh edition of the Sea Star Festival! Sea Star Festival will welcome the summer and open a new festival season for the seventh time in the Stella Maris lagoon in Umag, from May 22 to 25, with a star-studded lineup!
This year, the Sea Star stages will echo with the biggest hits brought by pop queen Loreen, the most successful hitmaker of the last decade Lost Frequencies, Eurovision’s bronze sensation Tommy Cash, psytrance leader Indira Paganotto, new wave techno frontliners I Hate Models, Patrick Mason and Paolo Ferrara, the top regional trap crew led by Senidah and Grše, pop sensation Miach, Balkan prince Voyage and many more!
Today, two days before the festival, the Bridge Conference will take place for the very first time. The inaugural edition will bring together giants from the music and tech industries, creating new networking opportunities, collaborations, future innovations, and unlocking global prospects in the magical Istrian landscape with a La Dolce Vita flair. The biggest leaders in the industry will share their valuable knowledge and experiences with visitors through various panels, discussions, and engaging talks.
Bridge Conference
The first edition of the Bridge Conference will begin today, May 20, and will take place at the luxurious Kempinski Hotel in the stunning Istrian landscape on the Adriatic coast. Over 40 top speakers and delegates from around the world will gather at Bridge to break geographical barriers and build bridges in the music and tech industries. Giants and leading innovators of the industry, heads of major promotion and booking agencies and global festivals such as CAA, ITB, SoundCloud, WME, Wasserman Music, FKP Scorpio, ILMC, SXSW, Mad Cool, EXIT, Sziget, Music Tech Europe, IFF and many others will unite to create something truly valuable. The Bridge Conference will bring together and unite the most influential minds in Istria to tackle industry challenges, create incredible collaborations and jointly build a sustainable and innovative future. More information and the full conference schedule are available on the Bridge website.
Sea Star begins with a special Welcome Party and ends on Sunday!
More than 50 music stars from around the world will gather in the Umag lagoon to welcome the summer and kick off another festival season filled with sunshine, sea, and great beats.
Welcome Party // Thursday, May 22
Sea Star Festival will once again open with a special Welcome Day program on May 22. Visitors will be welcomed on Thursday with a special reception at the Electric Waves Stage. Members of EXIT’s Echosystem and the EXIT Soundscape label – Lanna and Innēr Sense – will deliver powerful sets for the most exciting festival opening. Their performances will serve as a magnetic prelude to four days of sea, sun, and dance.
Day 1 // Friday, May 23 from 19:00
The gates will open at 19:00, and the main festival program starts at 19:30 when DJ master Thicc Boi will take over the Tesla Main Stage, opening the first of the festival’s two central days. Marko Louis, joined by special guests – Marčelo and Nensi, young pop sensation Miach, Billboard dominator and trap hitmaker Grše will fire up the Tesla Main Stage, before handing over to the new wave techno leaders – Patrick Mason, I Hate Models, and psytrance mama Indira Paganotto, delivering pure festival madness. The always-vibrant Nautilus Arena will be ignited by Teox, Shey, Micka Lifa, MihaMih and Diinzo, and a top-tier trap squad led by Baks, Peki, 30zona, Špiro & Tej, while Thicc Boi will return to the DJ booth to keep the crowd going until the early hours. Electric Waves Stage will be powered by local electronic heroes Sven, Grenco, Marin Biočić, Elena Mikac, Mimi and Carnero.
Day 2 // Saturday, May 24 from 19:00
On Saturday, the gates open again at 19:00, and Thicc Boi will once again kick things off at 19:30 on the Tesla Main Stage. The night will be taken over by energetic Voyage and divine Senidah, followed by Tommy Cash and Loreen bringing Eurovision magic to the Umag lagoon. One of today’s biggest hitmakers, Lost Frequencies, will treat the audience to the summer’s greatest anthems, while the main stage will also host Norm Mattia and Divolly & Markward. On Saturday, Nautilus Arena will be ruled by technometal beast Paolo Ferrara and Techno in Paradise heroes: Juno, Purple Mash, Gumja and DJ Jock. The Electric Waves Stage will flow with sounds from Minolta, Laseech, Antonio Zuza, Makarun b2b Rilejt, one n and Marcel.
Closing Party // Sunday, May 25 until 10:00 AM
The most persistent partygoers and dancers will be kept on their feet until sunrise with beats from DJs at the Electric Waves Stage during the Closing Party.
Entrance
Entry times:
Friday, May 23, 19:00 – 03:00
Saturday, May 24, 19:00 – 03:00
Festival Tickets and VIP Gold
Wristband checks will be in effect from 19:00 to 03:00. A Festival Ticket and Festival VIP Ticket are valid for one (1) entry into the festival area during these hours. Re-entry after exiting post-19:00 will require a new valid ticket.
In addition to festival security, entrances will be monitored by the police to prevent the entry of prohibited items and substances. Vehicle access to the festival zone is only possible with proper accreditation.
Voucher Exchange for Wristbands
Avoid festival crowds and exchange your voucher on time. Exchange locations for regular and VIP Gold vouchers will operate on Thursday 23.05. from 19:00 to 23:00, and on Friday 24.05. and Saturday 25.05. from 11:00 to 03:00. One-day tickets do not need to be exchanged for wristbands; you can go directly to the entrance with them.
Cashless System at the Festival
Sea Star Festival introduces the Sea Star Card equipped with modern contactless technology. Using the card, you can pay for drinks, food, and festival merchandise. The card can be purchased at any festival cash desk marked TOP UP and loaded with a specific amount. The deposit on the first top-up is €1.5, the minimum initial top-up is €5, and the maximum is €500. Each subsequent top-up is rounded to full euros (e.g., €7.5 top-up is not possible).
After ordering your favorite drink or food, you can pay by simply tapping your card on the reader at every bar. You can also tap the card on the reader at any time to check your balance. Please ensure that no one is making a payment at the same time to prevent any unintended charges.
Refunds
Funds can be refunded in full before leaving the festival, or on Sunday, May 25, by 18:00 at the location near the Electric Waves Stage.
Join the “Shiny Umag” Cleanup Action!
On Saturday, May 24, from 10 AM, the “Shiny Umag” underwater and coastal cleanup will take place. We invite Umag residents and Sea Star Festival visitors to join the action at 10 AM on Liberty Square (Trg slobode) in Umag. Registration will be possible at the City of Umag Tourist Board stand, where participants will receive t-shirts, gloves, trash bags, water, and a meal voucher after a short briefing.
Festival Rules
Below is a list of items you can bring to the festival, as well as a list of those you cannot bring through the festival gates.
Allowed:
✅ Backpacks (school backpack size is the maximum)
✅ Hats and caps
✅ Lighters
✅ Mobile phones and tablet devices
✅ Sunglasses
✅ Cigarettes
✅ Small umbrellas
✅ Raincoats
✅ Contact lens cleaning drops
✅ Cameras and camcorders (with approved press accreditation)
✅ Insulin (with diabetes documentation and personal documents)
✅ Medicine (with the original doctor’s report and original packaging)
Prohibited:
🚫 Drugs and narcotics
🚫 Knives and other weapons
🚫 Bottles and cans
🚫 Instruments
🚫 Food and drinks purchased outside the festival boundaries
🚫 Tents
🚫 Pets
🚫 Large umbrellas
🚫 Blankets
🚫 Selfie sticks and GoPro sticks
Lost and Found
The Lost & Found booth is located near the main top-up point, close to the main festival entrance. After the festival ends, lost items will be held at the Umag Police Station, Jadranska cesta 11.
Tickets
A limited number of festival tickets are on sale at the pre-final price of €64, VIP Gold at €150. One-day regular tickets are €39 and one-day VIP Gold €80.
The pre-final ticket price is lower than the final price, which will apply on the festival day.
All ticket info is available here.
This year’s Sea Star Festival is made possible with the support of the Croatian Tourist Board, the Istria County, the City of Umag, the Tourist Board of the City of Umag, the Tourist Board of Istria County, and Plava Laguna.
