SHIP is not a festival you attend to hear bands you already love - it's a festival where you fall in love with bands you'll hear and see for the first time! After being established in September last year, the Croatian Music Export Office (We Move Music Croatia) has now announced the conference and showcase festival SHIP, which will take place in September this year.

Šibenik will be the host to numerous musicians and music professionals from around the world from September 14th to 17th. The festival will feature a conference during the day, while music professionals and the general public will enjoy numerous concerts by emerging domestic and international music talents in the afternoon and evening.

At the first edition of the festival, in addition to the already announced Nu Genea (live band), upcoming European stars ###, freekind., nemanja, Porto Morto, Ana Antonova, Puuluup, Zimbru, Tolstoys, Iskra, and Vizelj will also perform.

### is a band best experienced through instrumental guitar noise, feedback, and pulsating lights. Notorious in the Balkan underground scene for their DIY approach—avoiding the usual course of things—they have recorded and/or performed in abandoned steelworks buildings, on rooftops, and even relocated their entire studio to a squatted cinema.

Pianist and vocalist Sara Ester Gredelj (Croatia) and drummer Nina Korošak-Serčič (Slovenia) formed the duo freekind. after meeting at the jazz academy in Graz, where they are also based. Their songs promote powerful messages of love and hope, complemented by R&B and jazz grooves. The philosophy that these two girls live by and share with their audience is simple and encapsulated in every letter of their name: be free, be kind.

nemanja is a global psych band that brings together members from Pula and Zagreb, inspired by 70s Afro-Columbian, Anatolian, Thai, and world music. Behind the band stands Luka Šipetić with albums like "Tarot Funk," "Cosmic Disco," and "Voodoo Beat." The band is currently promoting their third album, Voodoo Beat, which brings a danceable and exciting musical melting pot with hot Afro-Columbian rhythms, Caribbean dub sounds, and tropical exoticism.

Porto Morto is an increasingly recognized name on the regional music scene, consisting of a seven-member group whose musical direction is hard to define. However, if one were to try, it could be described as a mixture of progressive pop, art rock, and indie electronica. With their new album "PORTOPOP," they have defined a new sound, a new stage identity, and a new era in their career.

The diversity of musical influences that have shaped Ana Antonova's musical taste is still evident today. She is not burdened by genres and can be expected to deliver genre mash-ups ranging from selected deep house, acid, synthpop, minimal, to bangers that lead you to the climax of the evening, leaving no one indifferent. She also enjoys delving into techno waters, where she pays special attention to track selection, with lower BPMs but plenty of groove and depth.

Puuluup was founded in 2014 by two jouhikko enthusiasts, Ramo Teder and Marko Veisson. Ramo Teder is a multi-instrumentalist known for his long-standing solo project, Pastacas. He is a pioneer of looping in Estonia and has been mastering these skills for twenty years. Marko Veisson has a background in anthropology and fieldwork in northern Ghana, which, combined with his love for West African music, has definitely influenced Puuluup's style.

Zimbru is a quartet of best friends who play a wild mixture of rough synthesizers, smooth guitar riffs, and lively percussion, complemented by stories of dance, lost pets, queer love, and nostalgia for never-experienced past decades. They are best described as a Romanian art-rock band from Cluj Napoca, consisting of Teodora Retegan, Paul Bucovesan, Andrei Bobiș, and Oana Pop.

Tolstoys is a Berlin-based band with roots in Slovakia and New Zealand. This summer, they are presenting their new album "No Limit To Love," which combines magical trip-hop with psychedelic hippie vibes. Let their colorful, magical performance take you on a journey, and catch them at the SHIP festival in Šibenik.

ISKRA is an audiovisual synthwave project composed of four members who claim to have found a future chip with very important information. They managed to decode the chip, and they skillfully and creatively convey the information, which only they have access to, through music and animation. Their animated videos depict themes from the future of Skopje, specifically the years 2088/89, where a large corporation with its clumsily brutal interests is directly involved in the destruction of the city.

The glamorously fierce group Vizelj is also coming to SHIP. Many consider them to be pioneers of the new Belgrade alternative sound. Whatever genre the band ventures into in their songs, from electronic to garage, there is always an uninhibited punk attitude and intensity, for which their live performances are known. They are also the founders of the largest alternative art festival in Belgrade called "Hali Gali."

The SHIP festival is organized by the Music Export Office Croatia (HUZIP, HGU, HUIG, HUOKU) in collaboration with the Public Institution Fortress of Culture Šibenik, and the conference is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Tourist Board.

THURSDAY SEP 14
Opening Concert: NU GENEA live band (Napoli, IT)

FRIDAY SEP 15
Day: Music conference
Night: Showcase Festival

SATURDAY SEP 16
Day: Music conference
Night: Showcase Festival

TICKETS

The organizers emphasize that SHIP will announce 30 more names, and tickets can be obtained through the Entrio system.

The ticket price for the opening concert on September 14th is 29€, the same price applies to the festival itself (September 15th and 16th), and a ticket that grants access to both the opening concert and the festival (September 14th-16th) costs 34€.

The Pro Pass ticket, which provides access not only to the music program but also to the conference part of the program, costs 65€.