BIG Festival 2026: Baška Comes Alive to the Sound of the Guitar from 17 to 19 August

From 17 to 19 August, the Baška International Guitar Festival once again brings together outstanding guitarists, diverse musical styles and a rich accompanying programme.
Over three festival days, the St. Lucy’s Complex in Jurandvor and the Old Waterfront in Baška will become meeting points for jazz, blues-rock, fingerstyle, Brazilian rhythms, original music and musical traditions from different parts of the world. Artists from Croatia, Austria, Serbia, Brazil and the United Kingdom will take the stage, including internationally acclaimed virtuosos, award-winning Croatian musicians and ensembles whose performances bring back that unpredictable, vibrant energy to the guitar – the kind that always makes audiences want to hear it again.
This year’s edition features six live performances, two film screenings, music workshops, an exhibition of valuable instruments, a showcase of products by renowned Austrian manufacturer Thomastik-Infeld, as well as an audiovisual presentation of an album by Damir Halilić Hal.

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME:

Monday, 17 August 2026 – St. Lucy’s Complex, Jurandvor

• 19:30 – Django (Django Reinhardt, 2017) – film screening
• 21:30 – Viennoise ft. Bako Jovanović (AT/RS), Jed Becker’s Group (HR) – live performances
• 23:30 – Damir Halilić Hal, 6&12 (Bonus 9) – video album presentation
• Throughout the evening programme: Thomastik-Infeld Product Showcase
• Throughout the evening programme: Exhibition of Guitars and Musical Instruments from the Luciano Vrban Collection

Tuesday, 18 August 2026 – St. Lucy’s Complex, Jurandvor

• 19:00 – Walk the Line (2005) – film screening
• 21:30 – Marco Antonio da Costa (BR), Darko Jurković Charlie Quartet (HR) – live performances
• 23:30 – Damir Halilić Hal, 6&12 (Bonus 9) – video album presentation
• Throughout the evening programme: Thomastik-Infeld Product Showcase
• Throughout the evening programme: Exhibition of Guitars and Musical Instruments from the Luciano Vrban Collection

Wednesday, 19 August 2026 – Old Waterfront, Baška Harbour

• 21:00 – Krešimir Mišak Trio (HR), Krissy Matthews Band (UK) – live performances

One of the special features of the first two evenings is the change of setting within the St. Lucy’s Complex. The programme begins with a concert on the upper meadow before moving down to the lower area, where a more relaxed atmosphere creates a different rhythm for the second part of the evening.

I’M COMING TO BIG FEST!

The festival opens on 17 August with a musician whose instrument may not be a guitar, but whose technique grew directly from it. Branko “Bako” Jovanović, born in Vienna, attended a music school for classical guitar and transferred the knowledge, precision and sense of phrasing he acquired there to the tambura. Today, he is considered by many to be one of the finest tamburitza players of his generation.
His repertoire brings together Romanian and Bulgarian dances, the Hungarian csárdás and the musical heritage of the Balkans, as well as fado, flamenco, manouche jazz and other influences that he transforms into contemporary, virtuosic arrangements. He has performed around the world, collaborated with numerous prominent musicians from Austria and the Balkan countries, and appeared in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls.
In Jurandvor, he will perform with Viennoise Trio, joined by Tony Pusztai on guitar and Jovan Torbica on double bass. It will be a concert in which tradition does not remain behind glass, but takes on new speed, colour and character.
The same evening will feature Jed Becker’s Group, a Croatian blues-rock trio that, without unnecessary explanations, does what matters most: they step onto the stage and play. They combine well-known classics with their own compositions, driven by experience, mutual understanding and a genuine love of blues and rock.
The group is led by guitarist, composer and arranger Emir Grozdanić, while the rhythm section consists of one of Croatia’s most highly regarded drummers, Tonči Grabušić, and bass player Damjan Grbac. Grbac is also known for his own original work, particularly through the award-winning GIIPUJA project, which places the music of Istria and the Kvarner region within inventive jazz arrangements.

The second festival evening

The second festival evening brings a completely different musical atmosphere.
Brazilian guitarist, singer, composer, arranger and producer Marco Antonio da Costa has spent more than two decades building an international career around an expression in which Brazilian music, jazz and elements of classical music naturally meet.
He began his musical education in Vienna and studied jazz guitar and jazz conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. He has performed throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas and collaborated with a number of internationally acclaimed artists.
In Jurandvor, he will be joined by two exceptional Croatian musicians: vocalist Maja Grgić, recipient of a Porin Award and other music honours, and bassist Zvonimir Šestak, a multiple recipient of the Porin and Status awards.
Their joint performance brings music of strong rhythm, refined communication and Mediterranean ease, without taking the expected shortcuts.
Following Brazil comes Rijeka jazz at its most exciting. Darko Jurković Charlie is known for his extraordinary “two hands tapping” technique, which allows him to play two guitars simultaneously.
This is not a trick performed for effect, but the foundation of a distinctive musical language that has earned him a Porin Award, several Status Awards and collaborations with numerous Croatian and international musicians.
His quartet also features Denis Razumović Razz, one of the key figures of the Rijeka jazz scene and a five-time Status Award winner for Croatia’s best jazz saxophonist. The line-up is completed by Karlo Lovrić on electric organ and Rajko Ergić on drums.
Four musicians, extensive experience and enough room for every composition to evolve into something new in front of the audience.

The final evening

The final evening, 19 August, moves to the Old Waterfront in Baška and opens with Krešimir Mišak Trio.
Widely known as the editor and host of HRT’s television programme Na rubu znanosti (On the Edge of Science), Mišak is also an experienced musician for whom the guitar has been an important part of his life for decades.
He is dedicated to fingerstyle and fingerpicking techniques, giving familiar songs from this region a new form through his own arrangements. His performance does not rely on volume, but on detail – on the way a familiar melody can be taken apart, reassembled and told without words.
In such arrangements, the guitar simultaneously takes on melody, rhythm and accompaniment, demonstrating just how rich it can sound even without a large instrumental ensemble.
And then comes the grand finale. Krissy Matthews is considered one of the most highly regarded British blues-rock guitarists of his generation, and his biography sounds like a story written for the screen.
He first performed in public at the age of three. At just twelve, legendary John Mayall invited him on stage at a concert opened by Peter Green & Friends. A few years later, he became the last guitarist to perform with Jeff Healey.
Throughout his career, he has collaborated and shared concert and festival stages with artists including Toto, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa, Beth Hart, Gregg Allman and Los Lobos.
Krissy Matthews Band is known for high-energy performances in which virtuoso playing goes hand in hand with raw live power. Their arrival at the Old Waterfront is not merely the end of the festival programme, but a finale created for an audience that loves its blues-rock loud, live and uncompromising.

Music, Wine and Summer Evenings in Jurandvor

Great festival evenings do not end when the music stops.
Alongside the concerts in the special surroundings of the St. Lucy’s Complex in Jurandvor, audiences will once again be able to enjoy the flavours of the island of Krk and an offering created for long summer evenings outdoors.
KuSshh Bar will offer a selection of local spirits, liqueurs and brandies, as well as natural juices, while Katunar Estate Winery will present wines from its vineyards, including the Žlahtina Sv. Lucija, named after the very location where the first two festival evenings take place.
Between the film and the concert, and from one performer to the next, there will be plenty of time for a glass of wine, good company and the relaxed atmosphere that makes people come to BIG Festival not simply to attend a performance, but to spend the entire evening.

ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME

Film Evenings, Exhibition and Music Workshops

On Monday, 17 August, at 19:30, the biographical drama Django from 2017 will be screened, dedicated to legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.
The film follows him in occupied Paris in 1943, at the height of his career, as he faces the persecution of the Roma and the pressure of the Nazi regime. Alongside the story of his musical genius, the film explores freedom, courage and the power of art in the darkest historical circumstances.
On Tuesday, 18 August, at 19:00, the programme features Walk the Line, the 2005 biographical musical drama about Johnny Cash.
The film follows his journey from growing up on a farm in Arkansas to becoming one of the biggest stars in country music, while also confronting his struggle with addiction, personal turmoil and his relationship with June Carter.
Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon perform most of the songs themselves, and Witherspoon won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role.

Following the concerts on 17 and 18 August, at 23:30, there will be a video presentation of Damir Halilić Hal’s album 6&12 (Bonus 9), released by Dallas Records.
It is an album that is difficult to place within conventional music-industry categories: it contains no fewer than 51 compositions, each accompanied by its own video.
Through his original guitar music, Hal brings together Croatian-Mediterranean motifs, American musical styles and influences from Africa and Asia. He explores the possibilities of classical, acoustic, 12-string and 9-string guitars, as well as the unique Croatica guitar, created by Croatian instrument makers.
The project combines concert, film, storytelling and education, allowing audiences not only to hear the compositions, but also to discover them from the inside.

For guitarists and anyone interested in learning directly from the festival performers, music workshops will also be held at the St. Lucy’s Complex in Jurandvor:

• 17, 18 and 19 August – Krissy Matthews: electric blues-rock guitar
• 18 August – Darko Jurković Charlie: jazz guitar
• 18 August – Marco Antonio da Costa: Brazilian classical guitar

The workshops are open to everyone, regardless of previous experience.
Workshop times will be arranged directly with the artists.
Information and registration: luciano.vrban@chello.at

During the programme on 17 and 18 August, visitors will have the opportunity to explore an exhibition of guitars and musical instruments from Luciano Vrban’s private collection at the St. Lucy’s Complex.
The exhibition presents a cross-section of instruments that have marked different periods and genres of music, from electric, acoustic and bass guitars by manufacturers such as Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, Ovation, Epiphone and Warwick, to instruments that Vrban himself restored or built.
Many of the exhibited instruments have been used in professional studios, at concerts and on album recordings, and are connected with prominent Croatian and international musicians.
The exhibition is therefore more than an encounter with valuable instruments. It is also a small history of music told through wood, strings, traces of use and the people who played them.

Thomastik-Infeld, the renowned Austrian manufacturer of strings for guitars and other musical instruments, is also returning to the festival.
During the first two evenings, visitors will have the opportunity to discover part of their product range, while the collaboration with BIG Festival continues with the aim of developing new content that connects high-quality musical equipment, artists and audiences.

BIG Festival does not ask its audience to choose one genre, one generation or one way of playing.
Over three days, it is possible to move from a cinematic story to a live concert, from rare instruments and workshops to intimate fingerstyle, Brazilian jazz and full-blooded British blues-rock on the Old Waterfront.
That is precisely what makes the festival special – someone will come because of an artist they have followed for years, someone out of curiosity, drawn by a film or exhibition, while someone else may leave with the name of a musician they had never heard before that evening.
The best festival discoveries often begin exactly that way.
Three evenings. Different musical worlds. One BIG Festival.
Admission to all programmes is free.

In case of adverse weather conditions, programmes will be moved indoors: to the Refectory of the St. Lucy’s Complex in Jurandvor and to the sports hall of Fran Krsto Frankopan Primary School in Baška.
The organiser reserves the right to make changes to the programme.