For years, Hvar has been the Adriatic’s most open secret. It’s talked about between friends over long dinners. It’s quietly bookmarked by well-heeled travellers who prefer discretion over display. It’s known to those who seek beauty without bravado. Unsurprisingly, the world has caught on.
In recent months, international headlines started circling: Condé Nast Traveler called Hvar “The Island You Keep to Yourself.” USA Today wondered why everyone is suddenly talking about Hvar and its “most beautiful town.” Business Insider boldly named it Europe’s next luxury escape.
But for those of us who have walked its stone alleyways in the early morning, watched the sun bleed into the sea from the Pakleni islands and gathered around tables where olive oil shines like gold, the attention feels almost irrelevant. For those who really know Hvar, the island simply exists as it always has.
The Hvar we know and love
There is a particular type of traveller drawn to Hvar, one who craves something more nuanced than the flash and fizz of the usual Mediterranean hotspots. Luxury on the island isn’t defined by yachts and champagne (though there’s plenty of both if you wish). Instead, it’s in the texture of everyday life.
It’s in the first morning swim when the Adriatic is flat and glassy. It’s in the rough stone walls of an old konoba where generations once made wine by hand and vines still claw their way toward the sun. It’s in the cool shadow of St. Stephen’s Cathedral on a hot summer day. And it’s in the way Hvar holds its secrets close, revealing them only to those willing to move a little slower.
Six decades of summer celebration
And now, as the days grow long and the lavender fields begin to stir, Hvar prepares for one of its most cherished traditions. As it has for over six decades, the island will once again play host to the Hvar Summer Festival — its 64th season, no less. In a world of instant everything, 64 years feels almost defiant. Culture isn’t packaged or curated for effect. It rises organically from the island’s long relationship with art, music and performance. And while the names on the programme change each year, the feeling remains the same.
Nikola Radovani / Hvar Summer Festival
In Renaissance courtyards and beneath Baroque bell towers, in intimate stone chapels and on dimly lit piazzas, the festival is carefully composed. From classical concerts in the 17th-century Arsenal to world-class performances in the Franciscan monastery, every note finds its perfect place within the island’s natural acoustics.
The grand opening on Friday, June 21st, offers a stellar beginning. St. Stephen’s Square, the very heart of Hvar Town, comes alive in a remarkable fusion of classical music and cutting-edge visual art.
The historic Loggia will serve as the canvas for a 3D video mapping projection created exclusively for the occasion by acclaimed Croatian multimedia artist Ivan Marušić Klif. As images dance across the façade, a synchronised musical programme will carry audiences through masterpieces by Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Bellini, Gounod and Rossini.
Croatian musical heritage will also take centre stage with the performance of Ivo Tijardović’s beloved aria “Daleko me biser mora”. The evening will conclude with the overture to Mozart’s Don Giovanni and, before a final gentle encore, the tender duet “Evening Prayer” from Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.
It is a night designed to capture everything the Hvar Summer Festival represents: world-class art, heavenly surroundings and an audience that knows how to savour beauty fully.
Villas that let Hvar speak for itself
As international attention grows, Hvar finds a way to remain untouched by the frenzy that often follows such recognition. And at Villas Hvar, we get it. We’ve always understood that luxury here does not mean excess. It’s why we handpick villas that are woven into the island’s fabric. Where modern comforts mix with ancient stone. Where privacy is the ultimate indulgence. It’s about luxury that cannot be manufactured.
Our guests don’t visit Hvar island for bragging rights. They come for the privilege of temporary belonging. To shop at the market each morning like a local. To drink wine made on the island. To hear nothing but the cicadas and clinking of boat masts in the marina.
The spotlight shifts but the island stays the same
As global headlines continue to circle, Hvar will do what it’s always done best: carry on. The lavender will bloom. The fishermen will return at dawn. The music will rise beneath the stars once again. And for those who arrive not because it’s fashionable but because it speaks to something within them, Hvar will reveal itself just as it always has.
As the Hvar Summer Festival lights flicker on and the first notes rise into the warm summer air, we invite you to join us this summer on Hvar island. Walk the stone streets at dusk. Dine beneath pergolas heavy with vines. Lose yourself in concerts where the Adriatic accompanies every note. And discover for yourself why Hvar is being recognised for what it has always been.
