If on Sunday, 2 August 2026, you were looking for the epicentre of Zadar's best summer atmosphere, every road led to Puntamika. Some concerts are remembered for technical perfection, but Puntamiška fešta will be remembered for something far more valuable: the moment when locals, tourists, every generation and the whole waterfront found themselves on exactly the same wavelength. That summer buzz is exactly why I turned up this year with a camera in hand, ready to capture an event that confirms its cult status year after year.

The programme started at 6 pm with a DJ warm-up, while the space slowly filled with people and the familiar smells of summer food stalls. The peak of the night came at 10 pm, when Jakša and Hrepa from Daleka obala walked on stage. For the Zadar crowd their show has long been more than just a concert; it's a real summer tradition and an emotional explosion. After the live set, DJ Dr. Do.Little took over and kept the rhythm going into the early hours, once again living up to the organisers' high expectations.

When “Ti nisi tu” becomes “You are not here”

What excites me most at concerts like this isn't just the hits, it's the moments when a band decides to do something unusual for an audience that isn't all local. That night Hrepe opened “Ti nisi tu” in English, as “You are not here”, so every tourist in the crowd would immediately know what the song is really about, and then Jakša took over and carried on in Croatian for the rest of us. A small thing, but it works. Suddenly the whole party is singing the same song, just in two languages, and nobody feels like they missed the point.

The connection with the crowd that night was exceptional, not in the sense of stock phrases dropped between songs, but in the sense that you could really feel the band reading the room and reacting to it live.

A concert that isn't just about happiness

It's easy to assume a summer concert by the sea is automatically all good vibes and light fun, but Daleka obala's songs carry a much wider range of emotions. There's anger and restlessness in there, not just joy, and that's exactly what makes their music interesting to people hearing it for the first time. Every song has its own frequency, its own mood, and when you play it to tourists who don't understand a word of Croatian, they still feel it through the tone, the rhythm and the energy of the performance. Honestly, that's one of the most interesting parts of watching concerts like this: seeing emotion travel without translation.

Puntamika as a stage for the whole city

Puntamiška fešta stopped being just a concert a long time ago. It's an all-evening ritual. With plenty of food and drink and relaxed hanging out on benches and piers, it's the kind of event where you're constantly scanning the crowd for familiar faces. I always keep an eye out for who I'll bump into, say hi, stop for a minute and catch up with people I might not have seen since last summer. That social side creates an atmosphere you only feel in Zadar in summer. Most of the credit for the flawless organisation and this relaxed slice of summer once again goes to the crew from Udruga mladih Puntamika (the Puntamika Youth Association), who again temporarily closed Obala kneza Domagoja street to traffic for the party. A small price to pay for keeping one of the city's favourite summer events alive. Something remarkable happened here: three generations in one place without a single breakage or serious fight. Daleka obala, Sandro and Mate gave it a serious musical backbone, and hats off to them for that.

The view from behind the lens

Shooting a concert where the crowd carries the atmosphere itself is a special experience. You don't have to hunt for moments, they come to you: a chorus everyone knows, the smile of someone who just heard a song in their own language, a DJ set that keeps people on their feet until the small hours. Those moments, when the music and the crowd become one, are why nights like this are worth capturing, not just experiencing.

If you're organising a party, a concert or any summer event in or around Zadar and want the atmosphere captured the way it really felt, get in touch about photo or video. See you next year.