The biggest street festival, the Špancirfest, took place between 23 August and 1 September 2024, over the course of 10 days, with handball taking centre stage in Varaždin, Croatia, one of the five venues which will host the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, scheduled between 14 January and 2 February 2025, in Croatia, Denmark and Norway.

The festival sees Varaždin “magically transforms itself into a unique festival stage – full of colour, entertainment and feel-good vibes”. 

This time around, handball was also present, with the Croatian Handball Federation (HRS) having a booth in the festival, with former and actual national team players, as well as the official mascot of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, Foxy, being present to make the visitors of the festival “inspired by handball”, the official motto of the next edition of the world handball flagship competition.

Children were invited to take part in special games, which symbolized certain elements of handball, in order to attract children to play sports, or handball from an early age, making the sport both fun and exciting for them.

In the final weekend of the Špancirfest, Denis Špoljarić, a world champion in 2003 and an Olympic champion in 2004, currently the assistant coach of Croatia men’s national team, alongside the Varaždin mayor, Neven Bosilj, presented the vision of the competition and the benefits of the organising city, inviting passers-by to buy tickets and enjoy the competition.

Three of the Croatia women’s national team players, Lucija Besen, Kristina Prkačin and Sara Šenvald, as well as head coach Ivica Obrvan were also present at the HRS stand at the Špancirfest, making handball more and more popular, with Croatia preparing for the organisation of the IHF Men’s World Championship for the first time since 2009.

Varaždin and Poreč will both host one preliminary round group, while capital Zagreb will have two groups in the first part of the world handball flagship competition. While Poreč hosts the President’s Cup, Zagreb and Varaždin each have one main round group, with the Arena Zagreb hosting two quarter-finals and one semi-final, before the final is set to be played in the Unity Arena in Bærum, near Oslo, in Norway.

Varaždin Arena, inaugurated in 2008, has also hosted matches at the 2009 IHF Men’s World Championship, and was also the host for the final of the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship.   

Photo credit: HRS / Kolektiff Images