Every summer, as the sun ripens over Hvar’s hillsides, the small village of Velo Grablje transforms into a sea of purple. The scent of lavender thickens the air, curling through old stone buildings and spilling down terraced slopes.
On July 4th and 5th, 2025, this fragrant flower is honoured as the 17th annual Lavender Festival unfolds once more. This aromatic celebration is a homage to the island’s most iconic bloom and the people whose lives have been shaped by it.
In lavender country
Lavender in Velo Grablje is not merely grown – it is remembered, revered and folded into daily life. This quiet hillside village, once the heart of Hvar’s lavender trade, still breathes in tune with the purple bloom. It is here that the island’s most storied lavender growers once harvested the slopes by hand. Today, the passionate locals of the Pjover association carry that legacy forward with care and pride.
The Lavender Festival is their living tribute, a two-day gathering where time bends and tradition takes centre stage. Handmade oils, fragrant soaps, lavender honey and wild herbs spill out from stone stalls beneath fluttering shade. Workshops reveal the artistry behind old island crafts, while the air fills with the sounds of klapa singers and the laughter of children weaving through the crowd. At sunset, music swells against the village’s limestone walls as the heady scent of lavender permeates through the air.
Time stands still in Brusje
Not far from Velo Grablje lies the village of Brusje, yet another chapter in the story of Hvar's lavender soul. Founded in the 16th century by shepherds and farmers, Brusje blossomed through centuries of devotion to the land. Its lavender fields once rolled like fragrant waves across the hills. And now, nestled in its heart, a new light shines on the past: the recently opened Brusje Heritage Museum.
A home for memory
Consider this a living thank-you to those who came before. A private collection of the Hraste family, it was created in honour of grandparents Marko and Ana whose spirits fill every corner.
Brusje Heritage Museum
Grandfather Marko was a collector of stories as much as artefacts. Over a lifetime, he gathered the fragments of history that now line the museum shelves: fossilised snails over 90 million years old, shards of Bronze Age pottery, a coin minted under Emperor Hadrian, relics from Venetian days and solemn mementoes from the El Shatt refugee camp where he once taught children in exile.
Brusje Heritage Museum
There are pieces of global histories but also tender threads of personal ones, including a ceremonial military uniform, tools worn smooth by generations of hands, letters, photographs and things saved not for value but for love.
A heartbeat of heritage
Visiting Brusje and Velo Grablje is about sightseeing as much as it’s about stepping to the tune that modern life often forgets, as every scent holds something sacred. Whether you're drawn by summer in bloom or the soulful pull of the past, the Lavender Festival and Brusje Heritage Museum share a glimpse into a Croatia that moves to an old-school beat. Celebrate the island’s legacy. Taste, touch, listen and let yourself remember something deeply human. Because this summer, we’ll see you in the hills.
PS: If you need the perfect place to stay, look no further than Villa Ourea in Velo Grablje and Villa Leto in Malo Grablje. Or choose Villa Caerus near Brusje if you're dreaming of something more modern.
