New chapter on the Kvarner Riviera - Blues on the Adriatic powered by sempre-audio.at moves to the Kvarner Palace

Blues an der Adria powered by sempre-audio.at is opening a new chapter on the Croatian coast – and, in a rather pleasing twist, returning to the spirit in which it was first imagined. After three successful editions in Opatija, the festival will move to Hotel Kvarner Palace in Crikvenica, a Holleis Hotels property and one of those rare places on the Kvarner Riviera where history, hospitality, Mediterranean ease and a certain old-world grace still meet without strain. For sempre-audio.at, this is not simply a new address, but a return to the environment in which the idea was originally developed together with Kristina Bukovac, Martina Riedl and Michael Holzinger, Editor-in-Chief of sempre-audio.at. The first step will be an exclusive autumn edition from 24 September 2026, featuring Peter Kern as well as Meena Cryle and Chris Fillmore. From June 2027, the regular main festival is set to take place annually at Hotel Kvarner Palace.

Key Facts

• Blues an der Adria powered by sempre-audio.at is moving to Crikvenica
• Hotel Kvarner Palace becomes the festival’s new home on the Kvarner Riviera
• Holleis Hotels is the owner of Hotel Kvarner Palace
• Exclusive Blues an der Adria 2026 SPECIAL from 24 September 2026
• Peter Kern as well as Meena Cryle and Chris Fillmore confirmed as musical guests
• First regular main festival planned from 17 to 19 June 2027
• Music, cuisine, wellness and holidays conceived as a shared experience

A concept returns to its original setting

Blues an der Adria was never meant to be an ordinary festival. From the beginning, the idea was more intimate, more carefully judged and closer to its audience: handmade music in a special setting, not as an anonymous entry in a programme, but as a deliberate experience across several days. Concerts were always part of it, of course. Yet the wider idea was just as important: conversation, shared enjoyment, time by the sea, good food and an audience that does not consume music in passing, but gives it the attention it deserves.

That Blues an der Adria is now moving to Hotel Kvarner Palace is therefore far more than a change of location. It is a move in which a circle closes in a remarkably natural way. The idea for this particular music format originally emerged within the environment that stands for refined Austrian hotel culture on the Croatian Adriatic: through the exchange between Michael Holzinger, Editor-in-Chief of sempre-audio.at, Kristina Bukovac and Martina Riedl – and therefore in close connection with Holleis Hotels.

The first thoughts behind Blues an der Adria were originally developed for a hotel in Opatija, which at that time was still part of Holleis Hotels. That was where the concept took shape: a festival not built around size, volume or event routine, but around proximity, handmade music, high-quality hospitality and a few relaxed days by the sea. After the premiere with Blues an der Adria 2023, the circumstances in Opatija changed; nevertheless, Blues an der Adria 2025 followed, as did the recent Blues an der Adria 2026.

With the move to Hotel Kvarner Palace in Crikvenica, Blues an der Adria now returns to the constellation from which the original idea arose. Kristina Bukovac, today Hotel Director of Hotel Kvarner Palace, and Martina Riedl, General Director of Holleis Hotels, are shaping this new chapter together with sempre-audio.at from the outset. That is precisely what gives this partnership its particular quality. This is not merely a festival meeting a hotel. It is a shared understanding of how music, hospitality, cuisine, rest and the pleasure of travel can belong together.

For sempre-audio.at, the move is all the more convincing because of that. With Hotel Kvarner Palace, Blues an der Adria receives not just a new address, but the long-term home that matches the festival’s original idea. Supported by Holleis Hotels as owner of the property, by Kristina Bukovac as the host on site, by Martina Riedl as the strategic force within the hotel group and by sempre-audio.at as initiator and presenter of the format, Crikvenica now provides the basis for a festival intended to reach well beyond a single concert date.

Hotel Kvarner Palace – Imperial history, Mediterranean ease

Hotel Kvarner Palace is a house with presence. Opened in 1895 as the Palasthotel Erzherzog Josef, it still carries the lustre of the period in which the Kvarner Riviera ranked among the finest retreats of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Its architecture, its position above the bay, the view towards the island of Krk and the generous parkland all speak of an era in which travel was associated with composure, time and style.

Today, Hotel Kvarner Palace belongs to Holleis Hotels and is run with a palpable sense of hospitality, cultivated cuisine and those details that turn a stay into more than merely a few days by the sea. This is exactly what makes the house so appealing for Blues an der Adria. It is historic without feeling like a museum; elegant without stiffness; spacious without losing its personal atmosphere.

Around 30.000 m² of Mediterranean parkland surround the magnificent Belle Époque building. The path leads down towards the sea and the hotel’s own beach, while the house itself sits above the Kvarner Riviera with considerable poise. The wellness offer adds another layer to the stay during the day, not least through the Palace SPA area and the new 25-metre seawater infinity pool in the adults-only area.

For Blues an der Adria, Hotel Kvarner Palace is far more than a handsome backdrop. This is exactly the setting in which the festival’s intended mixture can take shape: sea, park, cuisine and the calm of a great historic hotel by day; blues in the evening, in a setting that allows proximity and never smells of routine event management. Hotel Kvarner Palace therefore gives Blues an der Adria not merely a new address, but the kind of character that can turn concerts into a shared experience over several days.

“We are very pleased that Blues an der Adria will in future find its new home at Hotel Kvarner Palace in Crikvenica in the Kvarner Bay. It fills us with pride to expand our diverse cultural programme with another high-quality music festival. Following the established literature festival in late autumn, we will in future set a new cultural accent with the blues festival – initially with an exclusive autumn special in 2026 and from 2027 as a fixed component of our early-summer programme.

Hotel Kvarner Palace looks back on more than 130 years of hotel history and combines the charm of the Belle Époque with consistent further development. Since 2024, we have been continuously investing in the future of the house – with our new wellness wing including seawater indoor and outdoor pool, a modern sauna world with generous relaxation areas and a diverse range of beauty, massage and therapy treatments, as well as the steady expansion of our year-round cultural programme. From classical music to opera, musicals, jazz, cabaret, theatre and readings through to blues, we want to offer our guests special cultural experiences throughout the year in a unique atmosphere.”

Martina Riedl, General Director Holleis Hotels

Blues an der Adria 2026 SPECIAL – The opening movement in autumn

Waiting until the regular main festival in summer 2027 would feel unnecessarily restrained. For that reason, autumn 2026 will already bring a first indication of what Blues an der Adria at Hotel Kvarner Palace can become.

The Blues an der Adria 2026 SPECIAL will begin from 24 September 2026 at Hotel Kvarner Palace in Crikvenica. It is deliberately conceived as an exclusive, intimate opening – not as a large festival in the conventional sense, but as a finely drawn special edition for those guests who want to experience this new era from the very beginning. The line-up alone suggests that this will not be a tentative first step, but an evening – indeed a stay – with genuine musical weight.

Peter Kern – Viennese blues, direct and unforced

Peter Kern belongs to that small group of musicians who do not require grand gestures to hold a room. The Viennese blues guitarist and singer stands for a form of blues deeply rooted in experience, timing and expression. His music works not because it insists on being loud, but because it remains honest.

His guitar playing is virtuosic, yet never self-regarding. His voice carries the kind of maturity that cannot be taught; it comes from lived stories, long nights, instinct and restraint. Peter Kern does not sing and play the blues as an exercise in style, but as a language. That is precisely why he fits the opening at Hotel Kvarner Palace so well. He brings the kind of immediacy that can be especially compelling in an intimate setting.

For Blues an der Adria 2026 SPECIAL, Peter Kern is therefore an ideal choice. He represents music that does not try to smooth itself into politeness, yet still reaches the listener; blues with character; and a concert atmosphere in which every note has weight without ever becoming heavy-handed.

Meena Cryle and Chris Fillmore – A singular voice, eloquent guitar and unfiltered emotion

With Meena Cryle and Chris Fillmore, Crikvenica will welcome a duo that binds blues, soul and roots music with exceptional emotional intensity. Meena Cryle has a voice that is immediately present: warm, powerful, vulnerable, deep and at the same time strikingly agile. She can bring longing, melancholy and joy into a single phrase without ever turning theatrical for its own sake.

Chris Fillmore is far more than the guitarist beside her. His playing is fiery, elegant and narrative; at times rough-edged, at times lyrical, but always closely bound to the voice. Together, the two develop that rare tension which arises when musicians do not merely accompany one another, but understand each other almost blindly.

At Hotel Kvarner Palace, this music should find a particularly telling resonance. The historic surroundings, the closeness to the audience, the calm of the house and the autumn mood on the Kvarner Riviera form the kind of setting in which the finer shades of this duo can come fully into focus.

The main festival follows in June 2027

The Blues an der Adria 2026 SPECIAL is the opening. The first regular main festival at the new location has already been fixed: from 17 to 19 June 2027, Hotel Kvarner Palace will stand under the sign of Blues an der Adria powered by sempre-audio.at.

The festival will therefore gain a permanent place in early summer. June on the Kvarner Riviera offers ideal conditions for this: warm evenings, relaxed days by the sea, a travel season that has not yet reached its busiest point and that particular lightness which suits a music format deliberately not designed for mass spectacle.

The programme for 2027 will be announced at a later date. What is already clear, however, is that Blues an der Adria will remain true to its character in Crikvenica: selected artists, a personal setting, high-quality hospitality, good cuisine and an audience that wants not merely to hear music, but to experience it.

A complete experience of music, cuisine and rest

Blues an der Adria is built on the understanding that a concert evening need not stand alone. At Hotel Kvarner Palace, it can become part of a stay in which the individual elements complement one another without being forced together. During the day, the sea, the park, the spa and the cuisine invite a slower rhythm; in the evening, the music takes the centre.

The hotel’s kitchen, the interplay of Mediterranean flavours and Austrian hotel tradition, the calm of the grounds and the view across the Kvarner Riviera create a setting that suits this festival with unusual precision. This is not about loud staging. It is about pleasure, attention and atmosphere.

That is the particular appeal of this move. Blues an der Adria at Hotel Kvarner Palace is not becoming larger at any cost. It is becoming more rounded, more coherent and perhaps even closer to what was intended from the beginning: a festival for people who understand music, travel and finely judged hospitality as a connected experience.

When and Where – All the Facts

The Blues an der Adria 2026 SPECIAL will take place from 24 September 2026 at Hotel Kvarner Palace in Crikvenica on Croatia’s Kvarner Riviera. Peter Kern as well as Meena Cryle and Chris Fillmore are confirmed as musical guests. The special marks the beginning of the new cooperation between Blues an der Adria powered by sempre-audio.at, Hotel Kvarner Palace in Crikvenica and Holleis Hotels as owner of the property. The first regular main festival at the new location is planned for 17 to 19 June 2027 and is intended to take place annually in June. Detailed information on the exact schedule, supporting programme and exclusive booking packages including hotel accommodation will be published shortly on sempre-audio.at.

Conclusion

For sempre-audio.at, the move to Hotel Kvarner Palace is a particularly meaningful step because it closes a circle. Blues an der Adria is not simply receiving a new address; it is returning to the environment in which the idea originally emerged. With Holleis Hotels as owner, Kristina Bukovac as the host on site and Martina Riedl as General Director of the hotel group, the constellation is now in place to bring music, the sea, hospitality and a personal atmosphere into one convincing whole.

That this new chapter begins with Peter Kern as well as Meena Cryle and Chris Fillmore feels exactly right. Both programme points stand for blues with soul, character and artistic credibility. That is what Blues an der Adria is about: music that does not merely entertain, but lingers – in a place that gives it the right frame.