SAWA is a non-profit association of enthusiasts from Županja, Croatia who are passionate about underground culture, alternative art, and loud music tunes.

We organize shows, festival, screenings, exhibitions, eco-actions, discussion panels, street art sessions, and more. Started 16 years ago, back in 2009. with the first festival edition and keep on rockin’ since then, getting more ambitious year after year!

One of our most prominent projects is the Sick As We Are festival - an annual gathering of the Balkan hardcore punk community in Županja, Croatia. Our gathering usually takes place mid-July, when people all over the Balkan region and beyond come together to meet, exchange, discuss and have fun.

SAWA Fest is a small and intimate gathering with a friendly atmosphere and do-it-together spirit. We have already had 156 different bands perform on our stages, plus a few bands dear to our hearts that we repeated shows in the recent years. We love to host new artists from all over the world and introduce their music to the regional community. So far we have had bands coming from 25 different countries across 5 continents, where more than 700 individual artists have taken part in the festival programme.

Around 12.000 people visited our gatherings, made thanks to 60-ish volunteers giving their hands, time and brains to make this story happen across all of the years so far. To some this is nothing, to us - it’s the whole world, especially having in mind that our city has much fewer citizens than the total number of visitors so far. So, it’s small, but also huge!

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In short, SAWA is all about gathering underground music lovers from all around the world, but mostly Balkan region, together to meet, make friendly connections and have fun. By doing that we also support the scene and bands on tour in need for show, as well as loudly saying good night to racism, fascism, hate, violence, homophobia and any kind of discrimination. We think that's more important now than ever, and we truly stand by it while try to educate others, both locally and festival visitors, to foster same principles and values.

SAWA 2023 // MERCHANDISE

Možeš nas podržati kupovinom preostalog prošlogodišnjeg mercha u našem online shopu. Ukoliko ne vidiš svoju veličinu za određeni dizajn, možeš isti naručiti ovdje.

You can support us by buying merchandise we prepared for this year in our online shop. In case you don’t see your size for a specific design, feel free to pre-order it here.

SAWA Festival - 2023 Merchandise