Over the course of Hideout I heard people using the phrase 'Croatia is going to be the new Ibiza'. It’s not a bad prediction. Following on successes of Outlook and Soundwave, Hideout has crashed onto the scene this year as a big player in the overseas festivals.

Held on the island of Pag (5th largest on the Dalmatian coast), Hideout uses the beautiful seaside town of Novalja as its base & boat-party launch and nearby Zrce Beach as the Main Site. The beauty of this is that it is already a decent-sized tourist destination, Zrce has 4 large open-air venues already in place (no tents), each one well laid out and can match anything UK festivals can offer. Papaya especially, home of the main arena, is a truly stunning site to behold in full swing.

Thursday Hideout kicked-off with a welcome boat party, People Get Real getting sea-legs moving amidst a beautiful Croatian sunset. Later, pre- & after-party beach venue Kalypso saw the energy truly rise up with House sets from That Famous DJ Mike Jones before Manchester's own Prophecy stepped up. Let’s just say it’s a good job the venue didn't have a roof in the first place!

With an English invasion in full swing, Friday saw the 'official' start and time to get back on that boat! With the festival running from 10pm-6am each day (although there was always music & sunshine to enjoy on Zrce, 24/7) days were dominated by the boat parties. Hideout invited promoters & labels to host boats on an afternoon or evening slot and it was scene of some of the festival highlights. Day 1 saw residents from Zutekh and Sondio and boy did they bring a party with them, uplifting house and techno was a fitting soundtrack to the afternoon vibes. The evening party was a combination of Leeds' Bigger Than Barry and London's Urban Nerds; their residents brought Redlight aboard as captain, although he was outshone by Phat Pat's eclectic party set. Big tunes ahoy!

Having already raved away for virtually 24hrs, the festival starts! The huge Papaya headlined by the legendary Sven Vath. He was the name on everyone lips and, though I'm yet to be truly appreciative, he did that thing that techno DJs do very well! The 2^nd area 'Reclaim the Dancefloor' kicked off in style when Toddla T turned up, DRS hosting. Anyone hoping for his trademark dancehall grooves were in for a shock when he started with a ruthless jungle rinse out! Things settled down eventually with more UK Funky and Dubstep vibes from Jack Beats,Redlight and Nero, before Friction brought sunrise in with a masterclass of Drum & Bass. Managed to catch some Dixon, on a mates’ recommendation and he was rocking groovy house vibes in the packed 3^rd venue, followed by more of the same from Julio Bashmore. The sun was well & truly up by the time Mak & Prophecy smashed the 'Reclaim...' stage to finish the night off.

A few hours kip and do it all again!!Slightly bleary-eyed and unrested, Saturday started back on the boat (where else!). This time it was a party for 'Deconstruction Records', headed Hacienda legend Mike Pickering. They've been picking up some momentum recently and the signing of Jack Beats was a real coup. They also brought along the 'Drop the Mustard' residents to warm up, with Ollie Hackett spinning Balearic tunes SaxOffender cracked out his Saxophone and riffed over the top. The sea has never seen so much soul! Pickering himself followed up with a typically classic set; you wouldn't expect anything less from this man really! Headlining were Jack Beats and having heard what was in store the night before I knew a bit of what was coming. They did exactly as expected and special note to their remix of Skream's 'Where You Should Be', killer tune! I can't wait to hear more of that.

Back on dry land and Day 2 continues with Urban Nerds Rattus Rattus & Klose 1 breezing between bass-heavy beats with real panache, warming up the crowd at the 'Ape' stage for one of the festivals biggest acts Ms Dynamite. With only about 3 square foot of stage and an overenthusiastic crowd grabbing her feet, it probably wasn't her favourite gig, but that didn't stop an awesome performance- capped off by modern classic 'Wile Out' (including a DJ Marky D&B remix switch up!). 

With such an awesome line-up there was no time to think, I grabbed some shots of Pendulum and headed to the main stage where Aeroplane was finishing up his French House styles and Annie Mac was about to step up. Pretty much the First Lady of Dance Music nowadays, Annie went through any genre she fancied, from Disco to classic Jungle (Ready or Not remix, anyone?), in between geeing up the crowd on the mic. A perfect example of how to keep 4000 people entertained for 90 minutes!

After that, Swedish House Mafia's Eric Prydz played a perfect festival set. Not generally up for commercial house but classic piano riffs & rising crescendo filled the venue like a symphony. Full on hands-in-the-air business right there!

In between all this I was running back to the 'Ape' arena to see a full on Pendulum mosh-pit and the usual excellent sets you'd expect from SubFocus and Caspa. After seeing SubFocus doing his live thing on the past few shows I've seen, it was refreshing to hear a straight up DJ set, flipping from D&B to Dubstep to House and all the way back again, a demonstration of his eclectic influences. By the end of Caspa the sun was coming up and it was left to Doorly to bring in the new day fully. A former Metropolis resident, now moved on to bigger things (like Radio 1 and Ibiza residencies), if you see him perform you’ll see why. He will play anything, on as many decks as available, with flawless mixing, cuts & scratching on top. It's a true testament to him that he makes it look so easy too!

Another negligible amount of sleep, the festival entered its’ final day and arguably the one I was most excited about. Against the Laws of Physics & Biology, Dragged myself from my bed and wandered down to Sundays’ early boat, put on by music website Data Transmission. To aid festivities they invested in a large amount of fancy dress gear. Once everybody was kitted out with eye-patches, hats & blow-up swords we set sail to pillage! After a warm up from DT's own Grahame Farmer with some classic funk, and a little bit of Blur, Frenchman Aeroplane took the helm. After a bass-heavy sunrise set just a few hours before, Doorly showed his versatility with a chilled-out Balaeric set full of groove, but not neglecting trademark scratching & dropping accapella whenever it suited. The Pirates of the Adriatic came back well pleased!

The final Hideout boat parties, two went off at once; Crosstown Rebels, expected to be the biggest & best of the weekend, indeed sold out within minutes of being announced. The 2^nd also sold out, with a little less hype, the Digital Soundboy Party with Shy FX, Breakage, B-Traits back to back for 3 hours, SP:MC hosting. Junglist at heart, it was a no-brainer for me which to attend. All aboard the SS Soundboy! For the next 3 hours our boat was thoroughly rocked (even though all of them had had no sleep the night before). They switched DJs and played out D&B, Dubstep and UK Funky, keeping seafarers feet moving at all times, exactly what I wanted & expected. After a final, beautiful Croatian sunset (check our photo gallery) we disembarked and set off for the festival site- just a few hours left!

Sunday's line-up Wax:On had the main stage covered, Crosstown Rebels set up shop in the smaller Aquarius venue and the larger one held Metropolis. I arrived to Joker playing a relatively quiet arena. Clearly a lot of people were feeling the weekend's effects by now, coming out slightly later (and slightly wearier!). It was soon to fill up. The main arena by contrast was already in full swing, no doubt because of the man playing, Fake Blood. This guy never disappoints and, followed by Erol Alkan, it was clear any Electro-House fans were well catered-for; as they were loving it!

Back at Metropolis, Breakage was bringing more of what was dropped on the boat party. Still on no sleep, I have to give him and SP props for staying so energetic throughout. One of the biggest names on the bill was next to step up. Chase & Status, tonight represented by Saul playing a DJ set, had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Dirty Dubstep plus an array of D&B tunes induced a huge mosh-pit in the crowd. These kids get far too enthusiastic these days!

In need of some respite, I took a quick trip into the 2^nd stage, Aquarius, to see how these Crosstown Rebels were getting on with themselves. Whilst they certainly have a strong following, and the room was bouncing, I can't help but feel a sense of a loss of energy, when stepping from a D&B set into Deep House. I can appreciate the appeal, and I'm sure many of you may disagree, but it just feels pedestrian when compared to a D&B rollercoaster ride! I have to give some respect to Seth Troxler, his mixing was tight, though he was gurning so much his lips were imploding into his face!

2ManyDJs rocked the main stage with a heavier than usual set, combining some rock influence to their usual recent fare, but I was back to needing a 170bpm fix. Luckily a guy called Andy C was on Metropolis stage. 3 decks, a pile of dubplates and MC GQ, gave him all the ingredients he needed. His relentless mixing never gets tiring to hear, still at the top of his game and not many can come close, certainly this weekend. It seemed at one point that he wasn't going to stop as he was forced off the decks by sound techs, having ran 10 mins over his set time, a confused Shy FX waiting in the wings, alongside Digital Soundgirl B.Traits, who delivered a whole lot more of what we got before, to an elated audience, as the sun began to rise and usher in the festival's end. 

There was one final act, one man who meant I couldn't sneak off for a kip, one DJ who ensured I was still energetic to the very last. Danny Byrd. Final hour of the festival was a sunrise, liquid D&B rinse-out from one of Hospital Record's finest and, to my personal euphoria, he brought the curtain down on the whole event with an epic 'By Your Side' by S.P.Y. ensuring an emotional goodbye to the festival in 2011 and guarantee of my re-attendance next year. I hope you all can join me.