Hvarmony 2026: free wellbeing festival in Hvar, 15 to 18 October

Hvarmony is new this year: the tourist board of Hvar town has built a four-day festival around how to live better and longer, from Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October 2026. Lectures and panels alternate with workshops, morning movement by the sea and food, on the themes that fill bestseller lists: slow living, sleep, breathing, mental resilience, healthy ageing and longevity. Everything happens in the historic centre, in the Arsenal and the historic theatre on its upper floor, on the loggia terrace of the Palace Elisabeth hotel and at the Bonj beach, all a few minutes' walk apart. About 150 people had registered by 5 October, according to morski.hr.

The headliners

Carl Honoré, the journalist whose book In Praise of Slowness made him the best-known voice of the Slow Movement, opens the evenings on Thursday at 19:00 in the Hvar theatre. A former foreign correspondent for The Economist, The Observer and Time and a two-time TED speaker, he has been translated into 36 languages; his 90-minute talk is in English with AI translation. On Friday at 19:30 the Croatian-American author and speaker Kristina Kuzmič, known to many as the winner of Oprah Winfrey's TV talent show, records a live episode of the Human LAB podcast with its host Mateo Ćorluka. On Saturday at 19:15 the TV journalist Ivana Paradžiković talks about the pressure to be productive all the time and about changing her priorities after years in an intense media job.

The programme, day by day

• Thursday 15 October: breath and movement workshop at 09:00 in the Arsenal, a lecture on how much health is enough at 10:15 in the theatre, yoga at 16:00 on the Bonj beach, a town walk at 17:00 about the Hygienic Society founded in Hvar in 1868, one of the first tourist associations in Europe, and Carl Honoré at 19:00.
• Friday 16 October: mobility session at 08:30 on Bonj, a panel on nutrition and longevity at 10:00, a breathing and mindfulness workshop in English at 11:15, a workshop on personal boundaries at 13:00 (limited places), face fitness at 15:00, a panel at 17:15 asking whether wellbeing has become one more obligation, and Kristina Kuzmič at 19:30.
• Saturday 17 October: resilience training at 08:30 and a movement workshop at 09:45 on Bonj, a panel at 11:15, a Mediterranean cooking workshop with cookbook author Maja Brekalo from 12:00 to 14:00, body technique at 15:00, face fitness training at 16:30 (limited places), a lecture by personal trainer Dalibor Petrinić at 17:30, Ivana Paradžiković at 19:15 and a sound bath with singer Nina Kraljić at 20:30 in the Arsenal gallery (25 euros, booking required).
• Sunday 18 October: Pilates at 08:30 on Bonj, yin yoga with sound from 11:00 to 13:00 at the Maslina Resort near Stari Grad (limited places) and a sensory workshop with salt and sage at 17:00 in the Arsenal.

Morning sessions on Bonj move into the Arsenal if it rains. Each day is planned to work on its own, so you can come for just one.

Registration, prices and language

Participation is free on all four days, but you need to register once on hvarmony.com; one registration covers all lectures, and the morning and evening meetups are open without it. Workshops marked with limited places need a booking. The only paid item so far is Saturday's sound bath at 25 euros per person, booked by email through the festival. Most of the programme is in Croatian; Carl Honoré speaks in English with AI translation, and Friday's breathing workshop with the TLEX Institute trainers is in English too.

Getting to Hvar town in October

Hvar town is about an hour from Split by catamaran. The alternative is the car ferry from Split to Stari Grad and then about 20 km by road across the island. Timetables thin out in October, so check the return crossing before you book a workshop; our island hopping guide explains how the lines and tickets work. Mid-October suits the island itself: the summer crowds are gone, and the sea is usually still warm enough for a swim, see October weather.