Nestled in a Croatian river canyon, about two hours outside of Zagreb and where phone signal is a myth, a community gathers for an annual pilgrimage of psych, prog and doom. Entering its fifth year, Bear Stone Festival has welcomed the likes of High On Fire, Graveyard and Orange Goblin to these gorgeous grounds.
“I need a couple of days to write everything down, but this was by far our best edition yet, I can safely say that right now,” says a beaming Marin Lalic, the founder and mastermind behind Bear Stone Festival. Along with his wife Ilana, the duo are the bookers, promoters, grounds managers and central lynchpins of the festival, giving them a sight of everything that goes on in and around Bear Stone. Although they are bolstered by a team of people to ensure the smooth running of the festival – and it is very smooth indeed – it’s easy to see the love and attention that Marin has poured into Bear Stone’s success and how that is received and reciprocated amongst the community gathered across these grounds. “I’d say 70-80 per cent of our guests are returning. I personally recognise a lot of people here this year,” he smiles.
One such returning guest is Reza Bezdekova, who has driven 10 hours from Ostrava, Czechia to be here for her second Bear Stone. “I’ve never experienced a place like this before, where the people are so friendly. You can tell how happy everyone is to be here and I love how everyone is on the same wavelength,” she says. Elsewhere across the site, there are fans from Scotland, America, Germany, Slovenia – all here to witness a global contingent of some of rock and metal’s most entrancing bands.
Here’s what went down…