When a group of friends brought Dixon to Dom mladih on 14th of November, 2015, they weren’t just booking a world-class DJ. That night became ground zero for what would evolve into Garden of Dreams, the cultural movement that has spent the last decade transforming Sarajevo into a noteworthy destination for electronic music lovers in the region and beyond.
Born from revolt and nostalgia
“Garden of Dreams arose as a revolt,” explained Bojan Jović (AKA Bonjasky) in an interview. “It was a revolt against the state we found ourselves in—the complete absence of everything related to rave culture that was the main driver and catalyst of our upbringing in Bosnia & Herzegovina during the 2000s.”
While the Dixon event in November 2015 wasn’t officially branded as a Garden of Dreams event, it proved something crucial: Sarajevo could host world-class DJs in front of an audience that was starving for high-quality electronic music. After many years of dormancy, the trust was rebuilt between local promoters and international booking agencies.
“We literally organised the first Garden of Dreams to create an event we were missing in the city,” says Renad Čelik, co-founder. “Garden of Dreams was born from a group of friends. We started humbly, without investment, with our own money—but with lots of love and desire to live our own dreams.”
That first official Garden of Dreams event came in August 2016 when they brought German DJ SIS in front of the History Museum. Supporting him were After Affair (the newly-formed duo of Bonjasky and Ivan Z, who played their first B2B set together at the Dixon event), Denis, and Ismar.
A year later (July 2017), they invited Lehar and Sandrino to perform a back-to-back set, which is where this set was recorded:
Building on the foundation
While Garden of Dreams organised standout events at venues like the History Museum, Hum Tower, and Dom mladih, it was Silver & Smoke where they built their core audience and reputation. In 2018 alone, they organised no less than 48 events at Silver & Smoke, establishing the continuity and consistency that marked their early success.
“That period was crucial for Garden of Dreams,” reflects Bojan. “We managed to wake up sleeping clubbers in Sarajevo, we offered continuity, event after event, without stopping. In that period, world-class names were performing in Sarajevo, each event was better than the previous one, and we constantly raised the bar for production and organisation.”
During that period, they’ve invited the likes of Patrice Bäumel, YokoO, Eelke Kleijn, HOSH, Khen, and Traumer. The standout event from this era was &ME’s performance at Dom mladih (January 2018), now world-renowned as one third of Keinemusik.
Inaugural festival
The breakthrough came with the first Garden of Dreams Festival (June 21-23, 2019), a three-day, multi-venue spectacle that won the prestigious Ambassador Award for Best Regional Festival that year. The lineup included Oxia, Jeremy Olander, Musumeci, Lehar, Yotam Avni, Eric Cloutier, and dozens more across Dom mladih, Hum Tower, Silver & Smoke, and in front of the History Museum.
Garden of Dreams Festival 2019 @ Dom mladih / Silver & Smoke / Hum Tower / History Museum (Sarajevo)
“That’s the moment when we reflected on what we had accomplished and what we could do in the future,” said Bojan. “The moment when our dreams exploded.”
Surviving the pandemic and coming back stronger
The 2020 and 2021 editions were scaled down due to the pandemic, but Garden of Dreams didn’t disappear. They adapted, holding smaller-format events that maintained the spirit and held the community together. During this time they also recorded a series of sets showcasing some of Bosnia’s cultural landmarks, including the Vranduk Fortress, Valley of Heroes monument at Tjentište, Srebrenik Fortress, and Josip Broz Tito’s nuclear bunker. Our favourite video from that era is Patrice Bäumel performing at Sarajevo’s city hill, which also features tons of pretty cool drone footage of the city.
By 2022, they were back in full force with a three-day festival at Hum Tower featuring Joris Voorn, Kollektiv Turmstraße, Matador, and Anja Schneider. The 2023 edition went even further, expanding to include a live music stage at the University Campus alongside the electronic stage at Dom mladih, featuring an absolutely magical performance by Tom Odell.
But it was the street events that truly cemented Garden of Dreams’ legendary status. “A magical event,” says Renad about Hot Since 82’s performance at Vilsonovo šetalište in August 2023, speaking to BHRT. “I believe one of the best events of its kind ever organised in Sarajevo, if we’re talking about the feeling the audience took with them.”
Since 2023, they are also responsible for organising Sarajevo Film Festival’s closing party in front of the Eternal Flame, turning one of the main streets into a massive open-air rave. “We pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in terms of production at a challenging location in the city centre,” explained one of the co-founders Renad after the 2023 edition. The event reportedly drew 35,000 people and required careful coordination with police, the film festival, and multiple stakeholders. Confetti fell from the sky as lighting effects transformed the historic street into a fairy tale setting.”
So far those closing parties were headlined by the likes of ARTBAT (2023), Adriatique (2024), and Layla Benitez (2025), cementing Sarajevo at the epicentre of the region for the week of the film festival.
After Affair: The resident duo that grew up with Garden of Dreams
Central to the Garden of Dreams story is After Affair—the duo of Bonjasky (Bojan Jović) from Sarajevo and Ivan Z from Banja Luka. Their partnership began at that first Dixon event in November 2015 when they played their first B2B set together.
As promoters closely connected to Garden of Dreams, they’ve performed alongside virtually every major international artist brought to Sarajevo, won the Ambassador award for regional DJ of the year in 2018, and completed a mini USA tour. This year, they performed in London, Las Vegas, and had their own night during the Amsterdam Dance Event.
Elevating other local talent
Garden of Dreams expanded beyond events into Garden of Dreams Records (a label supporting emerging artists), the Talent Campus (providing education in music production, DJing, and event organisation), and the Sarajevo Creative Meet conference in partnership with British Council, bringing together creative industry professionals from across Europe.
Full circle: November 15th, 2025
The 10th anniversary celebration brings everything full circle in the most poetic way possible. This Saturday, exactly ten years after that first event, Garden of Dreams was supposed to return to E-Arena (formerly known as Mikser House) where Âme performed in November 2017, just three months before the venue closed and never reopened for events of this scale.
Since then, the location changed to the venue formerly known as myFACE, located on Vilsonovo šetalište 8, for what is surely to become a party that is going to be remembered for a long time.
Âme b2b Bonjasky, with support from Kristijan Molnar, represents the perfect synthesis of international prestige and local talent that has defined Garden of Dreams from the beginning. It’s fitting that Bonjasky—who was there at the very first event in 2015—will share the stage with one of electronic music’s most revered acts.
“We wanted to make something that would leave a mark,” Bojan reflects. “That evening with Dixon, we sent a message to the world: Sarajevo is back on the map. We’re here to dream.”
Âme b2b Bonjasky @ former myFACE (Sarajevo)
“Garden of Dreams isn’t just our story; it’s the story of everyone who has ever shared a dance floor with us,” the organisers declare. “Ten years behind us is just the beginning, the best dreams are yet to come.”
