One of the best known festivals in northern Croatia is the Špancirfest in Varaždin, with ten days of musical performances (see for tickets and program below), free artistic street performances, market stalls with local food products and craft-work, and much, much more. This annual festival is held from Friday 19 ’till Sunday 28 August 2016.
The whole centre of Varaždin is involved in the festival, streets full with people, food products, music, and in the evenings musical concerts perfectly located in this photogenic Baroque town. International performers will thrill the audience with theatre, circus, music, acrobatics, stand-up comedy, virtual painting of buildings and a variety of workshops for all ages.
BE READY TO BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED AND ENTERTAINED!
The festival is organised in different sections, so you can look up what is when in the program, the sections are
Creative Park
09.00 – 13.00 Location: Habdelićeva ulica free workshops for kids
16.00 – 20.00 Location: Habdelićeva ulica free workshops for kids
Vindiland
Located under the walls of the Old Town a playground for the youngest visitors with creative, entertainment and sport facilities. All activities are free and are under constant supervision of experienced animators. Vindiland is open: Monday – Friday 10.00 – 14.00 and 16.00 – 20.00 and on weekends around the clock from 10.00 – 20.00.
Street program
On the streets in the centre of Varaždin there is a wide variety of street performances from 17.00 – 20.30 all for free!
NEW: Royal zone
In front of the Old Town at the intersection of roads – every day, all day, for everyone – everything!
In the morning the smell of coffee and the music of light jazz near the part of the street food festival In the afternoon this is the zone for cocktails and summer rhythms and in the evening great concerts and the only official after party of the festival. Here is the fourth stage of the festival where you can listen to music of Croatian DJs ’till 02.00 on weekdays and ’till 04.00 in the weekend.
Wine city
This candlelit, cosy miniature wine city with many stalls with different wine producers that offer wine tastings. The Wine City at Špancirfest will give you the opportunity to enjoy the delicious taste of a variety of Croatian wines, all under de creative direction of Saša Špiranec a well known Croatian journalist and wine expert. The wineries present in the Wine City are Badel 1862, Belje, Belović, Skaramuča, Feravino, Iločki Podrumi, Eko vinarija Kopjar, Krauthaker, Mežnarić, P&F Jerusalem, Prigora, Vinistra Winemakers Association, Vinolicious, and Vivat.
Theatre program
see below
Music program
see below
TIPS
- Part of the centre of Varaždin is one-direction traffic, and this goes in a circle around the old centre.
- There is a large new underground well lit parking garage with over 400 places in the centre of town – Garaža Varaždin, Kapucinski trg, 42000 Varaždin (open 24 hours)
- Buy real Croatian local products on the market stalls around town, great foodstuffs, handmade souvenirs and artwork
- Link to official tourism office of Varaždin for more information
NEW: Perfume 18 – smell is the gateway to your memories and now for the first time the organisers of Špancirfest have introduced an new perfume for the 18th birthday of the festival. Perfume 18 is made by the well known Croatian creator of perfumes – Dejan Levačić and is available in 3 distinct fragrances for women and one fragrance for men.
Music plays a big part in this festival and you can listen to a large number of music performances from different styles of music on the three stages. I have summarized the program below.
Tickets for the music concerts
Street performances, performances on the stage at the Capuchin market and entrance to the city centre are free, but for the music concerts you will need to buy entrance tickets. Tickets can be bought on the official Špancirfest website or at the Eventim website.
A ticket for the 7-day music program on the OLD TOWN stage (Pan stage) is 350,00 kuna (~47 euro). Daily tickets vary in price from 90 – 170 kuna, when you buy it locally at the event it is about 10-15 kuna more expensive.
Concert Program
Friday, 19 August 2016
OLD TOWN (Pan Stage) Šetalište J.J. Strossmayera, Varaždin
21.00 Dub FX, Kiril Džajkovski feat TK Wonder & MC Wasp (electronic music)
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
MUSIC PROGRAM
20.00 TBF & Varaždinski komorni orkestar (Varazdin Chamber Orchestra)
Saturday, 20 August 2016
OLD TOWN (Pan Stage) Šetalište J.J. Strossmayera, Varaždin
22.00 Laibach i Quasarr (avant-garde / neo-classical music)
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
MUSIC PROGRAM
20.00 Hommage Arsenu: Matija Dedić, Tedi Spalato, Lea Dekleva i Zoran Predin
Sunday, 21 August 2016
OLD TOWN (Pan Stage) Šetalište J.J. Strossmayera, Varaždin
22.00 Pips, Chips & Videoclips i Repetitor
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
MUSIC PROGRAM
20.00 Urban & 4
Monday, 22 August 2016
OLD TOWN (Pan Stage) Šetalište J.J. Strossmayera, Varaždin
19.00 Brkovi, Kiša metaka, Krankšvester (turbofolk, punkrock, rap)
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
THEATRE PROGRAM
20.00 Zijah A Sokolović: Međuigre 0-24
Tuesday 23, August 2016
OLD TOWN (Pan Stage) Šetalište J.J. Strossmayera, Varaždin
19.00 Manu Chao
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
THEATRE PROGRAM
20.00 Studio smijeha
Wednesday, 24 August 2016
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
THEATRE PROGRAM
20.00 Kazalište Merlin: Don Quijote
Thursday, 25 August 2016
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
THEATRE PROGRAM
20.00 Branko Đurić: Đurologija
Friday, 26 August 2016
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
MUSIC PROGRAM
20.00 Zvonko Bogdan
Saturday 27, August 2016
OLD TOWN (Pan Stage) Šetalište J.J. Strossmayera, Varaždin
22.00 Toni Cetinski i Pravila igre (pop, rock)
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
MUSIC PROGRAM
20.00 Perpetuum Jazzile
Sunday, 28 August 2016
OLD TOWN (Pan Stage) Šetalište J.J. Strossmayera, Varaždin
20.00 Hladno pivo, Siddhartha (punk, rock)
VILA BEDEKOVIĆ (Croatia osiguranje stage) Ulica Augusta Cesarca 10
MUSIC PROGRAM
20.00 Neno Belan & Mediteran Orchestra