Anjunadeep Explorations, Dhërmi, Albania (June 2024) – a review

June 2024 saw the fourth edition of Anjunadeep Explorations, a six-day festival with a difference in Dhërmi, southern Albania. It had caught my eye in previous years but an inability to organise myself in time and the proximity of the date to Barcelona’s Sonar/off-Sonar meant my attendance had never quite come together. This year, however, I had committed when the second ticket window opened up in February.

The festival was attractive for many reasons, not least the opportunity to party to great music in the open-air by the beach in a way that is possible in less and less places these days. Talking of off-Sonar, going back to the early 2010s there was always the opportunity to dance through the sunrise at a chiringuito beach bar somewhere, but that has now largely been stamped out and the clampdown on outdoor music in Ibiza is well-documented. As a less-developed tourist destination, Albania had no such issues. It was exciting to be coming to a new country and the sense was that now was the time before the secret got out any further and the associated downsides of too much tourism coming in to the region.

This year the festival was running from 13-18 June and I was going for 4 days from the Friday to Monday. The main entry points in terms of flights are either the Albanian capital Tirana or Corfu in nearby northern Greece. While Anjunadeep and their travel partners give you the opportunity to book transfers to Dhërmi as part of the festival booking, I had chosen to make my own way there with a mate and explore a bit of southern Albania with the aid of a hire car. An interesting experience on the Albanian roads!

As the Friday approached, my sense of anticipation was building. I wasn’t sure what to expect and after 3 days in the largely deserted coastal town of Borsh an hour away, I also wasn’t sure I was quite ready for the full on-ness of a music festival experience! However, I needn’t have worried as the vibe in the daytime was fairly chilled and at night there was plenty of choice across the four main stages, Empire, Splendour, the Yacht Club and The Cove. It was a really friendly crowd, too, as a few thousand of the Anjuna family descended on southern Albania from places as far afield as the US and Australia, with of course a very strong UK contingent joined by other clubbers from across Europe.

Festival packages (including accommodation) start at £330, and that’s before the potential add-ons of day tickets to the music programming at the more intimate Gjipe Canyon and Poolside Sessions. However, the accommodation element – compulsory to book alongside the festival ticket – is very reasonably priced if you go for one of the more budget options and the festival does of course go on for 6 days, ensuring value for the money. I was staying in Perivolos, slightly inland and higher up from the beach settlements of Dhërmi and Drymades, which made use of the shuttle bus essential!

After collecting my festival wrist-band and shuttle bus pass it was time to explore. First up we went to check out Asch Pintura’s set at Splendour. As I entered the stage the first tune I heard was Eelke Kleijn’s remix of Armin – ‘Blue Fear’, quite fitting as its one of my favourite trance tunes from back in the day. The atmosphere and energy built throughout from tracks like GMJ & Jiminy Hop’s ‘Caladan’ through to a peak when she dropped Ezequiel Arias’ – ‘Serenade Of’.

Next up I went to check out the Yacht Club, the smallest of the stages, for Just Her’s set which was a cool vibe, too!

The festival being on for several days gives the option to have quieter nights as one sees fit and there are also options to sign-up to health and wellness activities like yoga. Or in the case of many, just go full pelt at it for six days straight! However, I wasn’t one of them and my first night was a quiet one although I was a bit gutted to be missing Dosem’s sunrise set at Empire.

Saturday’s line-up, like all the days, was packed with lots of great artists and I would get to experience the other two stages. After dinner we went to check out The Cove and a really cool set from Cornelius SA.

The main focus was then Empire, the biggest of the festival stages and one that was being curated by a different artist each night (tonight the honour fell to Canada’s Simon Doty). It’s quite a spectacle and in many ways felt more like a massive outdoor European super club than a festival stage. We arrived there early doors for MOLØ, who was setting the vibe with some lovely melodic house cuts. Music ranged from the artist’s own productions to choice selections like Jeremy Olander – ‘Steps’ . Next up were London duo My Friend who instantly raised the pace dropping the big melodic bangers they are fast becoming known for.

Wanting a break from the main stage we then went back to The Cove where we had the unexpected surprise of Steven Weston busting out a progressive house classics set. Not many people were still there from before, but these were really choice classics and it was special to be there for this on the beach. It demonstrated that there was something for everyone at this festival, as it catered to a broad musical taste across the melodic spectrum.

Back at Empire, Simon Doty was continuing to rock it with his high energy, uplifting melodic house sound. No videos from this one but you can catch the recording of his set along with others from the festival on the Anjunadeep YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOftnzGIKwJBC1bRF0jyY7AKkcSHBxUZB

Moving on to day 3, it was down to The Cove in the afternoon to check out Argentinean progressive DJ Ezequiel Arias. This was a masterclass in how to gradually build things up – at 3pm most people were lounging around on their beach towels but by 6pm everyone was dancing as he dropped loads of groovy, melodic progressive house tunes.

Next up in The Cove was Jon Gurd who changed the style up completely, playing a ton of luscious melodic breaks. I was definitely feeling this, chilling as the sun went down, although I wasn’t always such a fan of change-ups in musical style in terms of the flow between DJs. For example, later on at Empire we saw Parra for Cuva come on and play at 115bpm for an hour, which seemed strange programming after Romain Garcia’s more high energy set in the 11-1 slot. I should say, however, that I thought Parra for Cuva’s set itself was excellent in terms of the music presented.

In the middle of all this there was a failed attempt to watch the England v Serbia Euros football game as the dodgy stream in the pizza restaurant – my third day of pizza in a row! – kept freezing. Nb. other cuisine was available in Dhërmi but I wanted something quick and within the festival site. I should also mention there was the option each night to book in advance a specially curated Anjuna dining experience, soundtracked by DJs like Braxton and Chris Luno. The promotional comms was a masterclass in email marketing in terms of the way the food was described but nevertheless I managed to resist signing up! But enough about food – the main focus of the night was now over at the Yacht Club for the excellent PROFF. I caught most of his set as he dropped some really danceable, groovy house combining organic and melodic elements.

With the Yacht Club due to finish around 3am it was then over to Splendour to see Nox Vahn, who served up a surprisingly (at least to me) banging, techy set, which was fun!

Which brings us to my final night on the Monday. If you are still reading by this point then well done (!), and this was when things started to get really special. Proceedings started early at 6pm with Volen Sentir on the beach, which was a vibe.

At this point my accomplice for the week, Brendan, sadly had to retire back to the accommodation to rest up – he had the unenviable task of driving us back to Sarande early the next morning in order for us to make our boat crossing. But for me it was on to Empire, curated tonight by Marsh and with a line-up of Wassu, Ezequiel Arias, Guy J and then Marsh to close. Empire is the stage where things really come alive and with it being open the latest, offers those special sunrise moments. And tonight was definitely one for the books.

While I missed Wassu’s set, I can say that Ezequiel Arias, Guy J and Marsh were all exceptional and the flow exactly what you want in terms of the way the night built, their styles complementing each other perfectly. Ezequiel was on it from the off and, like when I had seen him the day before in The Cove, proved to be a master in building the energy. Setting the tone initially with groovy prog tracks like Dowden & Andreas Buhler’s ‘Nixie’, before not too long the dancefloor was exploding with energy as he dropped an impressive armoury of his own productions. His Anjunadeep remix of Jody Wisternoff, James Grant & Braxton’s ‘SpaceTime’ certainly went down a treat.

Guy J took things back down initially with a five minute beatless intro before settling into the rolling percussive prog that Guy does best. I could have happily listened to several hours of it and he finished on his remix of the classic old school Hooj Choons trance track CM – ‘Dream Universe’.

As I walked away from the venue in the light, I could hear the tunes continuing to roll with Marsh’s remix of Estiva’s ‘Via Infinita’ echoing out in the distance. It really had been a great night! It was now time to commence the long journey back home and it would be another 15 hours before I was back at my flat in London. But the sleep deprivation from the final night had been worth it and I will no doubt be back again at Explorations another year!