Background Public screenings of sports and particularly football tournaments weren't a new thing by the beginning of the 21st century. The first
1930 FIFA World Cup in
Uruguay was broadcast on radio and fans gathered around receiving stations.
FIFA pioneered TV broadcasts of football tournaments during the
1954 World Cup in
Switzerland, and people in many countries carried
TVs on the streets and watched them collectively with their neighbors. The
1998 FIFA World Cup in
France was the first one to be broadcast on giant screens in city centers, but at that time the invention of massive public viewing was an anticipated effect of ticket shortage caused by a variety of factors.
2002, South Korea during the 2002 World Cup The
2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by
South Korea and
Japan, the first World Cup to be held in Asia, surprised the world with Korea's unique culture of public viewing and street cheering. Japanese authorities considered enthusiastic fan behavior deviant, acted restrictive on the matter of public viewing and limited it to specific sites, i.e. the
National Stadium in
Tokyo where nearly 45 thousand people gathered to watch broadcasts of games taking place at
Osaka and
Sendai. Korean public administration, on the contrary, tolerated public demonstration of fan excitement and supported the creation of
public viewing areas (PVAs) in an urban environment where people could watch the games on so-called "big screens". In addition to PVAs set up by local authorities and electric bulletin boards on the buildings many local companies arranged mobile screens on trucks. The
South Korea national football team showed remarkable performance throughout the tournament, and its supporters swarmed the streets and squares to watch broadcasts on the screens and celebrate collectively. The police tolerated extreme demonstrations of fan excitement, and Korean media portrayed street supporters in a positive light. Korean-style street cheering organized by the national team's supporting group
Red Devils became a worldwide impression as nearly 7 million Koreans (1 in 7 of the population) gathered at PVAs during the semi-final game between South Korea and
Germany. Public broadcasts and street cheering provided World Cup with a different "culture of viewing" that combined experience of high-quality TV broadcast and out-of-home reception at the stadium where companionship intensified the entertainment and enhanced the feelings.
2006, Germany In preparation for the
2006 FIFA World Cup, FIFA and the
Organizing Committee sought a way to accommodate people planning to visit the World Cup. The experience of past World Cups and public viewing was conceptualized in 4-weeks long events for football supporters to meet, board, interact, partake in cultural activities, and watch all 64 games on giant video walls. Since 2004 the details on costs, logistics, safety issues, marketing, and broadcast rights were jointly hammered out by FIFA and the Host Cities Those public viewing events that became known under the name of Fan Fests served as an idea to provide football supporters without tickets a legitimate opportunity to partake in the World Cup. Unlike the past tournaments where ticketless fans were treated as security risks, the World Cup in Germany welcomed all football supporters thus generating a positive atmosphere even before the tournament began. Even though security planners and media were skeptical and cautious on the matter of public viewing, the skepticism was cast aside with the beginning of the World Cup. Fan Fests for the 2006 FIFA World Cup were set up in 12 Host Cities and attracted 21 million visitors throughout the tournament according to
German National Tourist Board (FIFA claimed there were over 18 million visitors).
Berlin "Fanmeile" located at pedestrianized
Straße des 17. Juni between
Brandenburg Gate and
Victory Column with 14 consecutive video walls attracted 9 million fans over the duration of the World Cup with nearly 1 million supporters for each
German football team game. For the first time in German history, an event scored more visitors than
Oktoberfest.
Cologne Fan Fest scored 3 million visitors followed by 1.9 million in
Frankfurt, 1.5 million in
Stuttgart, 1.46 million in
Hamburg, 1 million per
Dortmund and
Munich, 500 thousand per
Nuremberg and
Hannover, 471 thousand in
Leipzig, 350 thousand in
Gelsenkirchen and 205 thousand in
Kaiserslautern. Those numbers exceeded all expectations, and some of the Host Cities had to expand the Fan Fest areas in the middle of the World Cup. The most popular Fan Fests were located in the inner city areas, and the approach to keep the city center generally "fan-free" applied by the authorities of Nuremberg proved ineffective as many football supporters preferred to stay in the picturesque city center. Media coverage of events had an additional positive effect as pictures of fans celebrating in front of giant screens attracted even more visitors from neighboring European countries that spontaneously decided to take part in celebrations at Fan Fests. FIFA and the Host Cities succeeded in creating and comfortable environment for foreign fans as 95% of them surveyed at Fan Fests agreed that it was an unequivocal declaration of the international nature of the World Cup, and was not a mere event for Germans.
Locations '''''' •
Berlin —
Straße des 17. Juni (between
Brandenburg Gate and
Victory Column) •
Cologne — , Roncalliplatz,
Rheinauhafen and Deutzer shipyard •
Hamburg —
Heiligengeistfeld •
Dortmund — •
Munich —
Olympiapark •
Nuremberg — Volksfestplatz •
Hannover — •
Leipzig —
Augustusplatz •
Gelsenkirchen —
Glückauf-Kampfbahn •
Kaiserslautern — , Barbarossastrasse According to FIFA, the Fan Fests in Host Cities attracted over 2.6 million fans with Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth being the most popular location with 741 thousand, 557 thousand, and 276 thousand visitors respectively. International Fan Fest totaled 3.5 million fans with 350 thousand fans in Berlin at
Germany v.
Spain semi-final followed by 93.5 thousand spectators in Mexico City for the
Argentina v.
Mexico match and 83.7 thousand people in Rio de Janeiro for the
Brazil v.
Côte d'Ivoire game. Australian fans ignored the time zone difference to attend the Fan Fest to watch
Australia v. Germany game in the middle of the night.
South African government considered the 2010 World Cup a huge success for the national economy. Hosting an international tournament helped the Host Cities to attract investments in sports venues, telecommunications, and transport infrastructure, boosted tourism, and promoted national identity (that was especially important for the country that was under
apartheid for 46 years). 2010 World Cup's legacy included development projects that benefited local communities and were directly related to FIFA Fan Fests. Mangaung Outdoor Sports Centre in
Bloemfontein meant to become a Fan Fest location underwent repairs and upgrades that remained after the tournament was over.
Cape Town authorities provided NGOs working on environment protection and sustainability initiatives a notable presence at World Cup's main Fan Fest at
Grand Parade. Development projects in the
City of Tshwane ranged from the extension of
CCTV to providing additional security for fans to support informal traders, vendors, and artists. Local catering vendors were certified and allowed to operate at Fan Fests and other venues; traders were provided an opportunity to sell local goods to visitors and artists participated in Fan Fest activities. All of them were added to the government database to be considered for future cooperation with the City of Tshwane authorities. In 2012 FIFA launched the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust to support a wide range of development projects in sports, education, health, and humanitarian activities in South Africa.
Locations '''''' •
Cape Town —
Grand Parade •
Durban — New Beach •
Johannesburg /
Sandton — Innesfree Park •
Johannesburg /
Soweto —
Elkah Stadium •
Bloemfontein — Mangaung Outdoor Sports Centre, •
Port Elizabeth —
St George's Park •
Nelspruit — Bergvlam High School •
Polokwane — Polokwane Cricket Club •
Rustenburg — Fields College School •
Pretoria —
Centurion Cricket Ground International •
Berlin — Olympischer Platz (in front of
Olympiastadion) and Strasse des 17. Juni (Victory Column) •
Mexico City —
Zócalo (Plaza de la Constitución) •
Paris —
Jardins du Trocadéro •
Rio de Janeiro —
Copacabana •
Rome — (
Villa Borghese gardens) •
Sydney —
Darling Harbour 2014, Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup Fan Fests took place in 12 Host Cities:
Rio de Janeiro,
São Paulo,
Brasília,
Belo Horizonte,
Cuiabá,
Curitiba,
Fortaleza,
Manaus,
Natal,
Porto Alegre,
Salvador, and
Recife. Fan Fest was set up in iconic locations, common places for public celebrations. Brazilian football star
Ronaldo became the Fan Fest ambassador for the 2014 World Cup in addition to his role as a member of the Organizing Committee. Due to the high cost of the World Cup infrastructure, the Host Cities wanted to attract private investors to co-finance Fan Fests for football supporters. I. e., the Municipality of Recife squandered public funds on the construction of
Itaipava Arena Pernambuco (14th most expensive stadium in the world by that time with a total cost of 274 million) and claimed itself unable to fund the original Fan Fest project. In March 2014, Recife authorities declared they would wait for external financing for Fan Fest. The deadlock was resolved one month before the World Cup in May when FIFA and its Brazilian partner stepped in to organize Fan Fest in Recife on their own. 2014 World Cup Fan Fests attracted over 5.1 million fans, including nearly 1 million tourists from 202 countries. The Fan Fest at
Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro was the most popular, with 937 thousand attendees throughout the World Cup, followed by São Paulo with 806 thousand visitors, Fortaleza with 781 thousand, and Manaus with 504 thousand guests. The Argentina v. Germany game was the most popular, with 265 thousand fans on Fan Fests in all 12 Host Cities. In November 2017, FIFA unveiled
Russia national football team's record goalscorer
Aleksandr Kerzhakov and
French 1998 World Cup and
Euro 2000 winner
Marcel Desailly as ambassadors for Fan Fests of the 2018 Cup. According to FIFA, the Fan Fests attracted 7.7 million people, exceeding the numbers of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil by a quarter. The festivals at
Sparrow Hills in Moscow and Konyushennaya Square in Saint Petersburg exceeded 1 million participants each with 1.87 and 1.303 million fans, respectively. 738 thousand people participated in Fan Fest in Kazan. Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, and Volgograd totaled 600 thousand each; followed by 500 thousand per Sochi and Rostov-on-Don, 400 thousand in Saransk, 385 thousand in Kaliningrad, and 310 thousand in Ekaterinburg. The
Russia —
Uruguay match alone attracted nearly half a million fans to Fan Festivals all over the country. The broadcast time for all the games totaled 917 hours and the event schedule for Fan Fests reached 323 hours.
Locations '''''' •
Moscow —
Sparrow Hills (in front of
Moscow State University) •
Saint Petersburg — Konyushennaya Square •
Kazan — Kazan Family Center (on the bank of
Kazanka River) •
Sochi —
Sochi Seaport Area (square of South Mall of the Seaport) •
Volgograd — 62 Armii Embankment •
Nizhny Novgorod — Minina i Pozharskogo Square •
Rostov-on-Don — Teatralnaya Square •
Kaliningrad — Central Square (near the
House of Soviets) •
Yekaterinburg — Mayakovsky Central Park of Entertainment and Culture •
Samara —
Kuybyshev Square •
Saransk —
Sovetskaya Square 2022, Qatar For the
2022 World Cup in
Qatar, which became the first sports mega-event to be hosted in the
Middle East, FIFA reimagined and reintroduced Fan Fest as a more diverse and inclusive Fan Festival. The new vision combined public viewing on a giant screen with a wider variety of cultural activities, art, music, and gastronomy. Fan Festivals introduced numerous digital and physical football-related activities, such as exclusive football games with the participation of FIFA Legends. FIFA+ digital platform became an essential part of the Fan Festivals to provide fans access to every important moment of the World Cup. The main Fan Festival took place at
Al Bidda Park along the scenic
Doha Corniche (bayside promenade) on 20 November — 18 December 2022. The 146,000 m2 site accommodated up to 40,000 guests at a time. In 2022, FIFA also introduced a new licensing model, which allowed its partners to launch local Fan Festivals in major cities outside the host countries to make the tournament experience more accessible to the global fan community. In partnership with
Coca-Cola, FIFA launched Fan Festival in
Riyadh. It also partnered with
AB InBev brands to run
BudX Fan Festivals in
London,
Seoul, and
Dubai,
Corona Fan Festival in
Mexico, and
Brahma Fan Festivals in
São Paulo and
Rio de Janeiro. These international events welcomed a combined total of 460,000 visitors. To respect the
Muslim traditions that prohibit alcohol consumption, which is considered an essential
dionysian festive social ritual of the fan culture, FIFA decided to place some restrictions. Alcohol beverages were only served at the Fan Festival site between 6:30 PM and 1 AM, Within the context of the 2022 World Cup, this approach seamlessly complemented the new vision of Fan Festivals as it provided families with kids an alcohol-free zone for most of the day. FIFA Fan Festival at Al Bidda Park attracted around 70,000 daily visitors, and a total of 1.8 fans attended the festival site over during the World Cup. For the first time in Fan Festivals history, the 2022 edition got its official anthem by
Myriam Fares,
Nicki Minaj, and
Maluma. 146 music artists performed at the main Fan Festival venue, including
Nora Fatehi,
Gims,
Calvin Harris,
Patoranking,
Kizz Daniel,
Diplo,
Trinidad Cardona,
Stonebwoy,
Sean Paul, and
Michael Jackson impersonator Rodrigo Teaser.
Locations '''''' •
Doha —
Al Bidda Park International •
Dubai — Dubai Harbour •
London — Outernet •
Mexico City — Plaza de la República •
Rio de Janeiro —
Copacabana •
São Paulo —
Vale do Anhangabaú •
Seoul — S Factory
2023, Australia and New Zealand From 20 July to 20 August 2023, Fan Festivals were rolled out for the first time for the
Women's World Cup in
Australia and
New Zealand—the biggest women's sporting event worldwide. Nine venues were launched in the host cities of
Adelaide,
Brisbane,
Melbourne,
Perth,
Sydney,
Auckland,
Dunedin,
Hamilton, and
Wellington. The Fan Festival in Auckland was closed for the first day on 20 July to pay respect to shooting victims in
downtown Auckland that day. Following the Fan Festival concept introduced at the
2022 FIFA World Cup in
Qatar, the venues in Australia and New Zealand provided public viewing of games, various sports and cultural activities, street entertainers, gastronomy by award-winning
chefs, and local
street food, lectures, discussions, and art performances. The music line-ups presented performers working in different genres, from
pop to
folk, including
Kimbra,
San Cisco,
Montaigne (in Adelaide),
Running Touch,
Kita Alexander, FELIVAND,
Sahara Beck,
Eliza & The Delusionals (in Brisbane),
Sycco,
Samantha Jade (in Melbourne),
Katy Steele, Crucial Rockers, Joan & The Giants,
Abbe May (in Perth),
Jessica Mauboy,
Steph Strings,
Jacoténe,
Jack River,
Mia Wray,
Tia Gostelow, Mikayla Pasterfield, Little Green (in Sydney),
JessB,
Ladi6,
Troy Kingi, Tuawahine,
Hollie Smith,
Kaylee Bell (in Auckland),
Bic Runga,
Topp Twins,
Ladyhawke (in Dunedin), AACACIA,
Robinson, Ella Monnery, Lou'ana (in Hamilton), Rubi Du,
Maisey Rika,
Che Fu (in Wellington). The Playground areas at Fan Festivals offered different activities and games to showcase football skills:
hungerball,
bubble football, football
golf, football
snooker, football
darts, reaction station,
penalty practice shoot-out, and shooting speedometer. The visitors could participate in
VR experiences,
silent disco, glitter make-up sessions by local
drag queens, and ingenious cultural events, such as
Poi workshops and
tā moko lessons at Fan Festivals in New Zealand. Fan Festivals introduced an intense program of lectures and panel discussions on the history and future of women in sports, culture, business, and society; on inclusion, sustainability, and gender equality in sports; and on empowering
LGBTQ+ community through football. The guests included renowned members of the
Australia women's national soccer team (the Matildas): Jill Latimer,
Emma Wirkus, Tracey Jenkins,
Sharon Black,
Victoria Balomenos,
Kristyn Swaffer, and FIFA Legends. In all host cities, FIFA opened FIFA Museums with exhibitions dedicated to the history of the World Cup and past world champions. Additionally, the FIFA Museum in Sydney also presented a "Calling the Shots: Faces of Women's Football" exhibition, which attracted over 50 thousand visitors, and the FIFA Museum in Auckland launched its own pop-up exhibition space, "The Rainbow of Shirts." A total of 777 thousand people attended Fan Festivals in 9 host cities at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The venue in Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour, Sydney, was the largest, with 250 thousand visitors over 31 days of the tournament. The attendance peaked on 12 August 2023, for Australia's quarter-final win over France, with 68 thousand people across all venues.
Locations '''''' •
Adelaide —
Festival Plaza •
Brisbane —
South Bank Parklands •
Melbourne —
Federation Square •
Perth —
Forrest Place •
Sydney —
Tumbalong Park '''''' •
Auckland —
The Cloud •
Dunedin —
Dunedin Town Hall •
Hamilton —
Globox Arena •
Wellington — Shed 6
2026, North America In June 2022, FIFA announced the list of host cities and stadiums for the
2026 FIFA World Cup which will be collectively hosted by the
United States,
Canada, and
Mexico. The list included
Toronto and
Vancouver in
Canada;
Guadalajara,
Mexico City, and
Monterrey in
Mexico;
Atlanta,
Boston,
Dallas,
Houston,
Kansas City,
Los Angeles,
Miami,
New York /
New Jersey,
Philadelphia,
San Francisco, and
Seattle in the
United States. Proposed Fan Festival spaces included locations such as
Liberty State Park (
Jersey City, New Jersey),
Central Park (
New York), and the
National Mall (
Washington, D.C.).
Locations '''''' •
Toronto —
Fort York and
The Bentway •
Vancouver —
Hastings Park '''''' •
Guadalajara —
Plaza de la Liberación •
Mexico City —
Zócalo •
Monterrey —
Fundidora Park •
Boston —
Boston City Hall •
Dallas —
Fair Park •
Houston —
East Downtown Houston •
Kansas City —
National World War I Museum and Memorial •
Los Angeles —
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum •
Miami —
Bayfront Park •
New York/New Jersey —
Liberty State Park (cancelled) •
Philadelphia —
Fairmount Park •
San Francisco Bay Area —
Downtown San Jose Campus or
Moscone Center •
Seattle —
Seattle Center In addition, the state of
Washington will have additional fan zones in
Bellingham,
Bremerton,
Everett,
Olympia,
Spokane,
Tacoma,
Tri-Cities,
Vancouver, and
Yakima. The
San Francisco Bay Area will host fan festivals in
San Francisco,
Oakland, and
San Jose. The
Atlanta suburb of
Decatur will host a fan festival. == Organization ==