Hungary and Slovakia will jointly host the 2022 European Men’s Handball Championship. Uniquely, a one-and-a-half-year long series of programs and shows will lead up to the tournament, which has just kicked-off yesterday.
According to Szabolcs Biró, head of the Hungarian organizing committee, “this European Championship will be special as we aren’t exclusively focusing on the two weeks of the tournament, but we want to build a community with our programs in the one and a half years preceding it. We provide our future visitors with a feeling of life experiences already ahead of the contest, which will not only be about handball, but also about culture, gastronomy, and entertainment from the host cities. We want to breathe together with these cities, to show what’s in them beyond the sport event,” he explained.
The campaign covers five main themes, dubbed “Feel more,” “Taste more,” “Chill more,” “Spot more” and “Do more.” In the flagship category, “Spot more,” popular vloggers and sportsmen will guide international and domestic audiences to the host cities’ coolest tourist, gastronomic, and cultural venues. “Do more” aims to inspire action for a green future, while “Feel More” will focus on concerts and shows.
Faces of the campaign will include handball icons like László Nagy and Máté Lékai, and young Hungarian celebrities and influencers.
The 15th edition of the tournament and the second to feature 24 national teams, will be held from the 13th to the 30th of January 2022. The five host cities are Budapest (the newly-built, state-of-the-art handball arena in the 9th district that is capable of hosting more than 22,000 spectators), Debrecen, and Szeged in Hungary; Pozsony (Bratislava), and Kassa (Košice) in Slovakia.
featured image via Youtube