MARK BROADBENT RESURFACES IN CROATIA

Former We Love promoter to develop Barbarella Club in Croatia

Andrew Whitehurst

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - 15:36

Mark Broadbent, the long-time promoter of the We Love nights at Space in Ibiza who retired from the acclaimed night at the end of last summer, has resurfaced in Croatia — dubbed by some as “the new Ibiza”. Broadbent will principally be helping develop promotions at Barbarella's nightclub, along with others in the Garden Festival team.

DJ Mag nominated Broadbent in the Outstanding Achievement category at our Best Of British Awards at the end of last year, and he was duly voted the winner in that category. His success in booking forward-thinking, credible line-ups for We Love at Space over many years marked him out as a real champion of underground music, and he left We Love on a high — before any market pressures forced him to compromise.

Mark and partner Sarah opened their own guesthouse in Ibiza, but now Mark has teamed up with the Garden Festival team to set up a series of events during the summer in Croatia. Realising they were of like minds was the main factor in Mark taking on this new venture.

“The guys asked me to bring a little of my own colour to the table, and to be honest this is the one thing I wanted to hear,” Mark says. “I have just left what for some would have been the dream job of programming one of the best parties in the world due to a lack of enthusiasm in the way things are heading in Ibiza and how that party will now need to be programmed to achieve the kind of numbers we had grown to expect.

“I wasn't about to jump on-board some other soulless ship of EDM pirates in a hurry,” Mark continued. “For Nick, Eddie and the team 'the party' is first and foremost: to them, this simply means great music programmed for a music-loving crowd. Strangely, and I'm afraid sadly, these are qualities that are now getting harder to find within our scene.”

Barbarella's has only been open during the six-week festival season up until now, since 2011, but there are plans afoot to open the open-air club for the whole summer. DJs booked for Barbarella's during August already include: Carl Craig, Darren Emerson, Stacey Pullen, Max Cooper, Ivan Smagghe, Justin Robertson, and a 20 Years Of Wiggle party featuring Terry Francis and Nathan Coles.