Sea Star Festival

Sea Star Festival is a four-day electronic and alternative music festival held at the Stella Maris beach and lagoon complex in Umag, at the northern tip of the Istrian peninsula. The festival takes place across the final days of May and markets itself as an opening event for the European festival season — preceding the denser July/August calendar when festival-goers have more choices to navigate.

Format and stages

Six stages operate across the festival’s footprint, covering house, techno, drum and bass, and alternative electronic subgenres alongside larger mainstage programming. The lagoon setting allows for beach and outdoor stages to run alongside the main stage, giving the festival an open, dispersed feel rather than the tight grid of a city-based event.

International headliners share billing with regional acts from the Balkan and Central European electronic music scenes. The lineup is announced progressively from early in the year; checking the official website in advance gives the clearest picture of what to expect for the 2026 edition.

Practical information

Tickets are available through the festival’s website in tiered early-bird pricing stages. Three-day passes and single-day options have historically been available. The Stella Maris complex at Umag provides camping facilities as well as proximity to accommodation in the town.

Umag is in northern Istria, approximately 60 kilometres from Pula and 50 kilometres from Trieste, Italy. Bus connections from Pula and from Zagreb (approximately 3 to 3.5 hours) reach Umag; driving from Central European cities is also a common approach. Pula airport has seasonal connections from several European cities and is the most convenient flying option.

Tips for festival attendees

Late May in Istria is genuinely pleasant weather — days in the mid-20s Celsius, evenings that cool comfortably without being cold. This makes Sea Star one of the most comfortable-weather festival options in the Balkan region, avoiding the extreme heat of July and August.

The beach and lagoon setting means swimwear is practical for daytime sessions. Bring adequate sun protection and hydration for outdoor daytime stages. The festival ground is accessible from the town of Umag, which has good restaurant and supermarket infrastructure for those not using on-site catering.

For broader Istria travel information, see our Croatia destinations section.