Following a spectacular opening night at Sea Dance Festival, which will be remembered as one of the largest music gatherings ever held in Montenegro, Saturday night brought another wave of festival fever led by reigning Eurovision winner DARA, British hitmaker John Newman, whose timeless anthems were sung in unison by the entire beach, and acclaimed Turkish DJ and producer Burak Yeter. Just a hundred metres away, on a packed Dance Paradise stage, Marcel Dettmann took the crowd straight into the heart of Berlin techno before handing over to BIIA, who, fuelled by the energy of the audience, extended her set and drove the night all the way to its conclusion without ever taking her foot off the gas. Tonight, masked maestro Boris Brejcha will bring the curtain down on the biggest summer festival in this part of Europe, joined by US DJ Layla Benitez, highly sought-after Mita Gami and regional trap and melodic favourites Voyage, Amna, Lanna and Coeus.
The Main Stage had been building for hours before the first major collision of the night arrived. Roadmen, Džukela x Talja and Radio Katakomba opened proceedings, before Who See and Bad Copy brought together two crews that have ranked among the leading forces in regional hip-hop for many years.
An hour before midnight, reigning Eurovision winner DARA took the stage. Just a few months after her Eurovision victory, the Bulgarian pop star stepped in front of the Budva crowd with the song that propelled her from a regional success story straight into the heart of European pop. “Bangaranga” brought Bulgaria its first Eurovision victory this year, and DARA showed exactly why the scale of a major festival stage comes so naturally to her.
“Hello, good evening, how are you?” DARA said in the Montenegrin language. “It is so lovely to finally meet you. Are you having a good time, brothers and sisters?” she told the crowd at the start of her performance.
John Newman followed, bringing songs that have long since stopped belonging only to him and become musical safe havens for an entire generation. “Love Me Again”, “Feel the Love” and “Blame” were given a new, more electronic edge in Newman’s hybrid live show, a format with which he has opened a new chapter in his career and which he presented exclusively at Sea Dance Festival.
“Montenegro, I’ve been waiting so long for this, are you ready? To come back here and sing for you again, I cannot thank you enough for all the support and love!” he told the huge crowd gathered in front of the Main Stage.
After Newman, Burak Yeter decisively took over the closing part of the second night, moving it from huge pop choruses straight onto the dancefloor. The strength of the connection between Yeter and the audience was perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that he extended his set by an additional half an hour. One of the biggest surprises of the evening came when, to the delight of the local crowd, a mix of Slobodan Kovačević’s iconic “Montenegro” rang out across Bečići. As Yeter later revealed to us, one of the distinctive elements of his performances is his habit of including a recognisable national song from the country in which he is performing, giving every set a unique local touch.
JUST A FEW DOZEN METRES AWAY, A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MUSICAL OASIS
While hip-hop, pop and huge dance hits took turns on the Main Stage, Dance Paradise existed as a sonic world of its own.
Internationally recognised Montenegrin DJ Laris prepared her Bečići performance especially for the occasion, with a set inspired by the monumental statue that became one of the most recognisable symbols of the entire EXIT to Montenegro edition. Almost spiritual moments ran through her performance, with striking choral passages that at times evoked the atmosphere of Enigma, while remaining firmly rooted in her distinctive techno sound. It was precisely this combination of mystical atmosphere and powerful electronic music that gave the set its unique character.
Reblok and Ana RS built the night until 12:30 AM, when Marcel Dettmann stepped behind the decks.
There are few shortcuts when it comes to Dettmann. For more than two decades, his name has been inseparable from Berlin, Berghain and a strain of techno that has never compromised. His sound can move from stripped-back techno and electro to house and industrial textures, but the groove always remains at its centre. In Bečići, that is exactly what he delivered. No unnecessary tricks, just hard, precise music.
Then, at 2 AM, BIIA took over and pushed the tempo even higher.
The Portuguese artist belongs to the new generation of performers who have helped bring higher speeds back to rave culture in recent years. Her sound collides techno, hard groove, acid, electro and 1990s energy, and she arrived at Sea Dance following last year’s EXIT Festival closing set and a string of major appearances across the international techno scene.
The festival’s third stage, Homeground, continued its mission of supporting the local scene. KONTA b2b UNDER, John K b2b Djordje Drobnjak, Pim Secle b2b Pelzensers, Straks b2b Burkakke, Moodykid b2b Sen Oliver and Mark Trippin b2b deNADA kept the dancefloor moving from 7 PM until 3:30 in the morning.
Throughout the night, the audience spread across all three stages depending on their musical preferences. Dance Paradise remained packed until the very end, while the Main Stage also maintained a strong crowd deep into the night.
BORIS BREJCHA FOR THE FINALE
Boris Brejcha takes over the Main Stage tonight at 1 AM, returning to an EXIT audience with whom he already shares a remarkable history. His first Dance Arena appearance in 2017 became one of those festival moments people continued talking about long after EXIT had ended, while at the festival’s 2025 edition the Arena was once again packed to capacity with his Jokerheads.
The night opens with Mandozica b2b Nikola Šoć, followed by NEONOEN and Amna, before Voyage takes the stage. At 11 PM, the programme makes its electronic turn with Lanna, who will join forces with Layla Benitez for a special back-to-back performance. Benitez’s music moves through the spaces between genres that are often more interesting than the labels themselves: house, melodic techno, indie dance and dark disco.
Dance Paradise has no intention of calling it an early night either. Following Nigel, Ma Khe b2b Mr. Jools, Buba b2b Lerr and Proximus b2b Mips, Coeus takes over, before the final word belongs to Mita Gami from 3 AM until 4:30 AM.
On the final night, Homeground brings together Raspop b2b Vukas, Marko Pajković b2b Double D, Iks Oks b2b FRLNSR, Stanco b2b CHBX, Double Needle b2b Doshljak and Stamina b2b Stevan Mandić.
Sea Dance has reached its grand finale, but the energy on Bečići Beach is nowhere near running out. The final chapter of this year’s festival is still waiting to be written, with a night that promises to bring summer on the Adriatic to an end exactly as it began: spectacularly.
