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Badalona becomes the European capital of Valorant this weekend
Badalona will become one of the major meeting points for European gaming this weekend. From Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August, the Palau Olímpic will host the finals of the second stage of VCT EMEA Valorant, with four teams competing for the title and a free Fan Fest also open to those without a ticket for the tournament.
The competition reaches its decisive stage with FUT Esports, Karmine Corp, Team Liquid and Fire Flux Esports. In addition to the European title, places at the Valorant Champions 2026 in Shanghái are at stake, so the Badalona matches will decide which teams from the region reach the major world championship.
There will be activity outside the arena throughout the three days. The Fan Fest will open on Friday from 1 pm to 6 pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 12 pm to 8 pm. There will be team stands, meet-ups with creators, prize draws, mini-games, merchandise, spaces for taking photographs and creative proposals such as a Barcelona-inspired trencadís workshop.
Access to a large part of this area will be free and will not require a ticket for the finals. Most spaces will be reserved for people over 16, although the area next to the Olímpic's main entrance, on Calle de Ponent, will be open to all ages and will also have food and seating areas.
Saturday will add one of the most eagerly awaited moments outside the professional competition. At 4 pm, España and Francia will face each other in a creators' showmatch led by Óscar “Mixwell” Cañellas and ZeratoR, before the lower-bracket final is played and the tournament's second finalist is decided.
Music will take centre stage on Sunday. Mushkaa will perform before the grand final and bring to the stage her reinterpretation of Villain, the track linked to Valorant that she has adapted in Spanish and Catalan with Riot Games. It will be one of the most visible intersections between the Catalan music scene and a video-game community bringing together fans from different European countries.
Getting there from Barcelona will be relatively straightforward. The Olímpic area is connected by the L2 and L10 Nord Metro lines, the Trambesòs at Gorg, the H10 bus and the R1 Rodalies line to Badalona. The organisers estimate a journey of around half an hour by public transport from central Barcelona.
For three days, the arena usually identified with basketball will swap hoops for giant screens, computers and thousands of fans following every round. Badalona thus adds a major international event that spills beyond the interior of the Olímpic and brings eSports culture to the streets surrounding the venue as well.