The big review: Bear Stone Festival 2026

Nestled in a Croatian river canyon, about two hours outside of Zagreb and where phone signal is a myth, a community gathers for an annual pilgrimage of psych, prog and doom. Entering its fifth year, Bear Stone Festival has welcomed the likes of High On Fire, Graveyard and Orange Goblin to these gorgeous grounds.

“I need a couple of days to write everything down, but this was by far our best edition yet, I can safely say that right now,” says a beaming Marin Lalic, the founder and mastermind behind Bear Stone Festival. Along with his wife Ilana, the duo are the bookers, promoters, grounds managers and central lynchpins of the festival, giving them a sight of everything that goes on in and around Bear Stone. Although they are bolstered by a team of people to ensure the smooth running of the festival – and it is very smooth indeed – it's easy to see the love and attention that Marin has poured into Bear Stone's success and how that is received and reciprocated amongst the community gathered across these grounds. “I’d say 70-80 per cent of our guests are returning. I personally recognise a lot of people here this year,” he smiles.

One such returning guest is Reza Bezdekova, who has driven 10 hours from Ostrava, Czechia to be here for her second Bear Stone. “I’ve never experienced a place like this before, where the people are so friendly. You can tell how happy everyone is to be here and I love how everyone is on the same wavelength,” she says. Elsewhere across the site, there are fans from Scotland, America, Germany, Slovenia – all here to witness a global contingent of some of rock and metal’s most entrancing bands.

Here's what went down...

As if Bear Stone wasn't bright enough in the Balkan sun, Klaustro/fonija are a burst of ultraviolet light on the Mill Stage. Armed with a raft of effects pedals and doling out groove by the bucket load, it's impossible not to watch on with the widest of grins. From the noodly builds of Last Supper In Happenchance to the bone quaking breakdowns of Heebie Jeebies, their fervently received set spans the ages of prog and indie rock is sung back in full voice by swathes of this crowd. Bear Stone is well and truly underway.

The Icelandic trio couldn't be more thrilled to be here. "You guys are fucking beautiful. This place is fucking beautiful!" yells drummer Dagur Atlason at the top of the set. Theirs is a real party vibe, utterly brimming with energy and it seems to be just what the people were seeking, as the crowd spills out onto the walkway alongside the stage, while yet more people headbang and cavort in the turquoise river below. It's fast, frantic and fun, before the wickedly enjoyable Sushi Sam gets spliced with Black Sabbath’s Children Of The Grave to ensure nobody forgets their time with Volcanova this weekend.

As the sun starts to set, the action shifts over to Bear Stone’s mid-sized Jam Stage in the centre of the site, a central hub that always feels busy even when nobody is on stage. Newcastle’s own Scott Hepple And The Sun Band – who have driven 1,000-plus miles to be here – have themselves a warmed-up crowd, but their blend of psych and garage rock winds up feeling like one of the day's less impactful sets. Cuts from last year's English Mustard sound fantastic, but in the grand scheme of the day, it just lands like a palette cleanser from the really noteworthy stuff.

On the other hand, Portuguese quartet Travo really gets bodies moving. They barely utter a word as they tear through their setlist; a maelstrom of space rock and heavy psych that squeals and rumbles like a careening locomotive. Their latest single BURIAL is one of the weekend’s best numbers and vocalist/guitarist Gonçalo Ferreira deserves a special mention for having some of the best riff faces you’re ever likely to see as he thrashes and writhes across the stage. With a new album on the way later this year, Travo's performance will long live in the memory of all who witnessed it.

Conan's Jon Davis is in an odd spot tonight. On paper, his sludge/drone project makes a lot of sense for Bear Stone, but as a closing set after the frenetic energy of Travo, it feels like a mismatch. Still, those with an appetite for Sunn O))) and synths are handsomely rewarded with a set that rings out into the stratosphere. A fantastic exercise in patience best experienced with closed eyes and just letting the space-age tints wash over you, you also notice how attuned the three of them are, as their yawning chasms of noise interlace in perfect synchronicity and create a soundscape that really ramps the day down to a close. Sure, some of their earlier, sludgier material may have been a better fit here, but playing last year’s fantastic Hollows Made Homes In Their Sunken Cheeks in full instead really helps them stand alone this weekend.

Easily the best-named band on the bill, the Italian trio draws one of The Mill Stage's largest crowds of the whole festival. Guitarist Alessandro “Camu” Camurati isn't the first man to play in a Speedo this weekend, but his tan lines are as strong as his riffs. If Hail Destroyer-era Cancer Bats dialled up the fuzz and dabbled in some skate punk too, this would be the ballpark you'd find them in. A special shoutout is in order too for drummer Nicola Viola, who puts in a blinding performance before drumming for his life as the whole Mill Stage sound system goes dead. You'd need a lot more than that to kill this party.

In a weekend full of thick tones, Drone Hunter's is amongst the most potent. "We're Drone Hunter. We are in a hurry," is all they ever say to the baying crowd, opting instead to let the riffs of The Crow’s Final Scream and Aguamala do the talking. The front rows headbang in unison, people are up on shoulders, others start crowdsurfing under this hot tin roof – there’s not a static body in sight and even as people walk past the stage heading for the waterfall, droves of them are stopped in their tracks. Bear Stone 2026 has properly hit its stride.

Finally, some costumes and rampant mysticism. The Belgian doom types all sport a sort of bearded monk get up, with flowing robes and face coverings that really lends credence to their brand of “antiquity doom”. Everything they do is bewitching – whether it's in the quieter moments of Im Lelya or in the roaring thunder of About The Culture of Death (Kerretu Mahrû) – and it really feels as though they have the crowd under a spell. Wyatt E. have already been building a lot of buzz around themselves and a set like this is all the proof we needed that they’re a very special band capable of some incredible things.

It's a travesty that Daevar's set barely exists. Just a few songs in, the Main Stage loses all power, but such is the appetite for the antifascist grunge-doom group that vocalist Pardis Latifi does everything in her power to repay the crowd's patience. Conga lines, renditions of Country Roads and Happy Birthday, and selfies for all that want one are doled out, before they tear through Yellow Queen once the power comes back far too late. But the love for them in this canyon is palpable and even though they didn't get to play much material, it's a set that will be looked back on incredibly fondly. Get them back next year.

The Greek heavy rockers are not headlining, but apparently nobody told them that. They leave everything out there in a fantastic display of crowd control and tight playing. Sure, they hit damn near every metal trope and cliché along the way, but it's dished out with such passion that it's easy to look past and just enjoy the performance in its basest form. Frontman Babis Papanikolaou is a man possessed as he storms around the stage, yelling, thrashing and punching the air with wild abandon and it’s easy to see that these guys are just doing what they love, which might be their most powerful characteristic.

Less than 24 hours on from their debacle with Gorillaz at Roskilde, Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats have pent up energy to expel, and the surging crowd here are willing recipients. Mt. Abraxas and Waiting For Blood go off like powder kegs and the energy never drops for a second – Bedouin, Melody Lane and Withered Hand Of Evil all sound utterly superb as they rock'n'roll through their era-spanning set of greatest hits. The whole band is profoundly efficient, but the stars of the show are Jon Rice who still hits the drums harder than anyone on the scene, and Rachel Burnett whose vocals, keys and horn accompaniments are exquisite. Whether they're playing to 130,000 or 2,000, Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats remain one of the slickest, tightest bands and they ensure that Bear Stone Festival’s Main Stage closes for the day on a real high.

Today, The Mill Stage has been handed over to Zagreb-based record label Purpurne Bašte, giving local artists an opportunity to play to a maxed-out Bear Stone. As an arrangement that has existed for several years, there's clearly a deep understanding of the vibes here: Vodenkonj open the day with their abrasive and groove-laden noise rock, Badel-Bager deliver instrumental garage rock to a neck-snapping standard and Čuvarkuća bring the funk with their saxophone-led, math-leaning slacker rock. But it's experimental duo Layka that really steal the show, useinng every part of the bass guitar to extract some of the weekend's most intriguing and wondrous sounds. Add the controlled mastery of the drums as well and you realise you're watching two people who truly understand and appreciate the science of their craft. A true hidden gem and a whole label worth exploring.

Today's line-up definitely leans the most into psychedelic music, and Italian group Upapayāma is the earliest confirmation of this. Fronted by multi-instrumentalist Alessio Ferrari, they employ flute, sitar and some beautiful shamanistic vocal passages to get the Jam Stage crowd swaying, especially for tracks like Mystic Chords and Moon Needs Owl. Their blend of Eastern folk and Western prog music is utterly engrossing and it’s all played with a love and care that feels incredibly special. What’s really interesting though is to watch the crowd, where people dance, hold hands, reach for the sky and utterly lose themselves in one of Bear Stone’s most beautiful and raw sets.

Don't think for a second that the psych focus has shunted the gnarlier riff merchants away though, as Norway's Saint Karloff deliver a doomy and dense performance that manages to fuse their Nordic frost with this Balkan heat for a perfect storm of riffs and roars. Ghost Smoker is enthralling and the pulsating Psychedelic Man rolls over this crowd like a steamroller. From the front to the back, heads nod in a sun-kissed wave of hair and hails and the spontaneous Viking Row celebration that breaks out at the end of the set tells you all you need to know about how Saint Karloff’s raid was a success.

The Mexican oddballs are perhaps the weekend's most far-flung imports, but the appetite for their brand of instrumental post-rock is plentiful. Adorned in yet another iteration of their masks and robes, today complete with flowing strings from their eye holes, they cut an unsettling figure, not to mention that they must be cooking in this early evening sun. The tender guitars and synths of Kokoro are stirring and affecting, while the movie samples and blasting drums of Como Un Demonio En Una Nube are eerie and rousing. The set spans the gamut of human emotion and becomes an immediate highlight in a weekend full of them already.

Bear Stone has had its fair share of loud moments, but Elder really pushes the Main Stage to its limits. Handy really, given that there's nary a clear blade of grass; seemingly all 2,000 people have converged on this clearing and across the water to hear the likes of Through Zero and Catastasis dispatched with precision and panache. It's been eight years since they last played in Croatia, and they're clearly making up for lost time by playing out of their skins. Vocalist/lead guitarist Nick DiSalvo puts on a clinic, showing once again why Elder has had the kind of success and longevity that establishes them as one of the genre’s most lauded and consistent acts. They may not be the final act on stage this year, but as the final notes of Halcyon ring out, Elder confirms Bear Stone as one of the most compelling festivals on the rock and metal calendar, and for all the platitudes and compliments it will rightly receive, it really is a place that needs to be seen to be believed.

Read this next:

• Heavy, Slow, Stoned: 13 doom metal albums everyone should own
• The story of doom metal in 29 songs
  
• Baroness: “Music can take our hurts and allow us to springboard back into the brightness, to enjoy life with all the more dimension and contrast”