Culture in Croatia: 3rd Lavender Festival in Velo Grablje on Hvar

An almost deserted stone village comes to life with the celebration of the island's lavender production, from lavender ice cream to an Irish tribute band.

The Third Lavender Festival on the island of Hvar took place on June 25, 2011, as the almost deserted village of Velo Grablje, once the centre of lavender production in Dalmatia, came alive for a festival to celebrate the aromatic crop.

Velo Grablje: Lavender Centre to Village of Five

Velo Grablje is one of Dalmatia's most picturesque villages, its authentic stone buildings looking down the valley to some stunning sea views towards the island of Vis. In its heyday in the 1930s, Grabjle was a thriving community, much of it working on lavender production, an important source of income.

The harsh economic climate in Dalmatia led to mass emigration, however, and the population of the village dropped and houses fell into disrepair, as their owners emigrated in search of better opportunities. The permanent population of the village now stands at just five people.

An energetic group of young locals decided to form a group to revitalise the village's fortunes, and Pjover was born, whose mandate was the protection and revitalisation of Velo Grablje. It was decided to celebrate the lavender harvest with an annual festival to recognise the culture of past generations and highlight the traditional Dalmatian production. The first lavender festival took place in 2009.

Children's Art, Lavender Ice Cream and Traditional Souvenirs

Several stalls appeared by the church offering traditional lavender souvenirs – oil, soap and dried flowers – and the day began with art classes for the children, who were encouraged to draw pictures with a lavender theme or otherwise. Their reward was free ice cream with a twist: lavender ice cream, whose mauve off-white colour and lavender taste was eager refreshment on a very hot day.

Producing Lavender Oil

At 13:00 attention turned to a house at the top of the village with smoke emanating from the chimney. Inside, the two-storey construction had been adapted for lavender production. A giant steel wine container was filled with bunches of lavender on the first floor, and tourists were encouraged to jump in, hold on to a supporting rope and help compress the bunches so that more could be added.

A furnace burned in the next room and steam was forced through a crude system before being cooled, and the first drops of oil and water mixture arrived after a delay of 15 minutes. The oil was then syphoned off.

A Village Comes Alive: Belfast Food

There were various presentations on the history of lavender on Hvar, which dates back at least 100 years, and tourists were entertained by an enthusiastic local with an accordian and hearty voice, before an Irish tribute band from Rijeka, Belfast Food, got up on stage for a live concert include popular numbers such as Dirty Old Town and Molly Malone.

Quite what the five resident locals made of the loud Irish music is unknown, but the event was highly successful and an important celebration of a production method that is dying out.