August 20, 2022 - Another Špancirfest in Varaždin has kicked off. This year's is the festival's 24^th edition, and the organisers are expecting three hundred thousand visitors.

As Poslovni reports, On Friday 19^th August, the 24^th Špancirfest began in Varaždin, which is one of the longest-running Croatian summer events. Over the space of ten days, it brings more than five hundred programs, concerts, street performances, plays, dance and other contents, reports HRT.

Photo: Matija Habljak (Pixsell)

The soul of Špancirfest, which will last until August 28, are the street performers who will come to Varaždin this year from all over Europe. The street performer list is made up of mobile performers, among whom there will be drummers, costumed performers, stilt walkers, etc.

The musical part of Špancirfest will offer its audience a diverse program on four main and several smaller stages on the streets and squares of the historic core of the city. An essential part of the Festival is the theater program at Villa Bedeković.

Director of the Varaždin Tourist Board, Jelena Toth, told Hina that more than 500 different programs will be held as part of Špancirfest in the next ten days on the outdoor stage of Varaždin's historic city center. The program is diverse and expects a large number of visitors. Toth reminded that last year the official number of visitors was 230 thousand, and in 2019, before the pandemic, it was 300 thousand.

Photo: Matija Habljak (Pixsell)

"We hope that this year we can approach the figure of 300 thousand again. Of course, a lot depends on the weather. We really did our best to organise Špancirfest, to equip the space, and to design quality content", said the director of the Varaždin Tourist Board, noting that the only thing that is not within their control is the weather.

All festival programs will be held outdoors, while tickets only need to be booked for the programs at Villa Bedeković.

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ZAGREB, 20 Aug, 2021 -  The 23rd edition of the Špancirfest street festival returned to the streets of the northern Croatian city of Varaždin on Friday and it will be open for the next ten days.

For twenty three years, at the end of August, the historical city core of Varaždin is transformed into the largest stage in Croatia. During the ten days of Špancirfest, the streets, squares, palaces, parks, gardens, and courtyards of historic Varaždin become stages, theatres, restaurants, bars, clubs, classrooms, and shops at the largest, most popular and most diverse Croatian festival.

After it was impossible to organise Špancirfest last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this street festival returned this year bringing together artists and performers from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Hungary.

The festival attraction over the several past years has been the so called wine city in which this year too 15 Croatian winemakers will present their products.

The director of the Varaždin Board of Tourism, Jelena Toth, said in normal circumstances the festival attracts approximately 300,000 visitors but this year, dur to the health restrictions, this number wold be halved.

Concerts at the festival can be attended only with COVID certificates, for those without it, organisers set up a stand where they can be immediately tested.

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June the 29th, 2021 - The Varazdin Hotel Turist, which is one of the most significant tourist facilities in the town, has faced some questions of late. It seems that despite rumors, it will not be altering in any way and will soon open its doors to visitors once again.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, following a change in the ownership structure of the most important tourist accommodation facility in this Northern Croatian town, the Varazdin Turist Hotel, at the end of last year, there was a fear in the baroque city that they could be left without significant accommodation capacities because the new owner allegedly planned to turn it into a retirement home.

Late last week came information that the hotel should open its doors soon. Namely, as the new mayor of Varazdin, Neven Bosilj, said, the Varazdin Hotel Turist will be in function for Spancirfest, and the new rooms will have 4 stars.

“I spoke to Darko Kisicek, the new owner. We talked about the opening of the Varazdin Hotel Turist, the full arrangement of which is set to be completed over the coming days. It will be a capacity increase of 60 rooms with 120 four-star beds. It has been promised that for Spancirfest, the hotel will be operational, so we'll have increased capacities for receiving foreign guests,'' said Mayor Bosilj.

He adds that he doesn't know whether the renovated space will be a nursing home, a senior hotel or something else, and that he doesn't want to enter the business policies or plans of the owner.

The Varazdin Hotel Turist is otherwise the largest hotel in all of Varazdin, which has been operating since 1964, and was privatised in 1991. For the next 30 years it operated under the ownership of the Bek family. Its capacity was 174 beds in 46 single and 58 double rooms, and the hotel has become well known for its conference facilities over recent years because it could accommodate about 500 guests in its halls. Before the coronavirus crisis struck, it employed 69 employees, and in 2019 it had a revenue of 16.2 million kuna.

At the end of last year, the Varazdin Trading Company (TPV) took over the ownership of the Turist company, which manages the Varazdin hotel of the same name.

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June 21, 2020 - What are without a doubt the most famous Varaždin and Čakovec festivals have been cancelled, officials have now confirmed.

Špancirfest usually takes place over the last days of August, but that won't be the case this year. It was supposed to be the 22nd year of the festival, but due to bad epidemiological situation, it is better for everyone to avoid encouraging large gatherings of people.

"Since it is impossible to implement the measures prescribed by the Croatian Institute of Public Health at Špancirfest, due to the specifics of the festival and its content, the only possible decision, no matter how difficult it was, was to cancel this year's edition of the festival," said the main organisers.

There is nothing that could replace the feeling of Dubioza Kolektiv's music beat or the smell of fresh languši. Still, the organisers said they would post various videos of last year's Špancirfest which took place without issue this time last year, long before the coronavirus pandemic struck. Besides, there will be many prize games to comfort many disappointed people, and those disappointed people are both Croats and foreign visitors.

This year was reserved for Gibonni, Parni Valjak, Psihomodo Pop, Vatra, Urban, as tourist board director, Jelena Toth, confirmed for Varaždinski.hr. All of those concerts were supposed to be held at Kapucinski trg, and completely free. As Mayor Čehok said, Croatian musicians should have an advantage. So as to avoid sticking only with win, there were plans in place to open a Rakijarnica - a place where every person could try the most delicious and unique alcoholic drinks.

Špancifest | Website

The same decision for Porcijunkolovo made by the Mayor of the City of Čakovec, Stjepan Kovač, and the assistant director of the same city's tourist board, Boška Ban Vlahek.

Porcijunkulovo is a combination of tradition and modernity, a fair of traditional crafts, a cultural and tourist event that is impressive in terms of its size for this part of the region, and an event that turned central Čakovec into a lively modern gathering place full of various content. Since 1964, when the first festival was held, until today, the feast of Our Lady of the Angels in Čakovec is followed by more than 300,000 visitors, who can enjoy the displays and products of traditional craftsmen, various exhibitors, and local family farms.

One of the most recognisable signs of Porcijunkulovo are the umbrellas dangling over the city. This year, regardless of the cancellation of the festival, people will still have the chance to walk under those same colourful umbrellas and revive the feeling of past festivals.

Porcijunkulovo | Facebook Page

In recent days, war veterans’ associations are very active in trying to decide who is allowed to perform in Croatia and who is not.

July 19, 2018 — Croatia’s cherished street festival, Špancirfest in Varaždin, offers another creative bonanza of music, art and gastro events this August.

And no, it’s not in Dalmatia.

Croatia's biggest street festival opens in style in Varazdin on August 18, 2017 - Spancirfest 2017 in pictures. 

Croatia's most famous street festival is back, as the fabulous Spancirfest opens on August 189, 2017 in Varazdin.

Varazdin's colourful Spancirfest continues, and there is plenty of interest for wine lovers at Vinski Grad, with wines from all over Croatia to taste, and some specialised workshops, which continue on August 24, 2016.

The fabulous creative festival of Spancirfest opened for the 18th time in picturesque Varazdin on August 19, 2016. TCN was there.