The City of Vancouver is releasing more details about how soccer fans can watch the FIFA World Cup games from the official fan zone.
“We’re hoping to make it the best place to watch the matches in all of British Columbia and Vancouver, so they can expect to get into the festival for free and experience some of that world-class World Cup atmosphere that you can only experience in an official site, which the Fan Festival will be,” Jessie Adcock, Vancouver host committee lead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup told Global News.
She said the site, which will be at the PNE grounds at Hastings Park, will have multiple screens, food and drink vendors and family events.
“This is going to include the PNE site minus Playland, and so will be also the first large festival to take advantage of the new amphitheatre,” Adcock said.
“It will be transformed from what it is right now, you know, when it’s not activated, to all the parking lots and the various buildings all being used, all the gardens and the various spots across the site will be animated and brought to life.:
Adcock said that the Freedom Mobile Arch Amphitheatre will be ready in time and will be the location of the premium ticket seats to watch the games.
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“One of the things that the amphitheatre affords us is a brand new spot from which to offer different types of premium experiences,” she said.
“So there’ll be options for group hosting, food and drink options, and reserved seating. And so look out for our newsletter, for updates to our website, as well as follow us on socials to get all that information as soon as it gets released.”
The cost for these tickets has not yet been released.
Entry to the site in general will be free, Adcock said.
“The goal with the fan festival is to make it inclusive and accessible and family-friendly and affordable,” Adcock said.
“So we understand that, you know, tickets to the matches are in high demand straight across the 16 cities, not just Vancouver. And so one of the drivers and the goals of the fan festival is to make it a place for everyone to come and watch.”
Adcock said there will be security on site and the city is working with the Vancouver Police Department and its provincial partners so that everyone feels safe.
“For us, it’s really important that our whole community gets an opportunity to participate,” Adcock added.
“We’re excited to put Vancouver on the map, we’re excited to create an environment where families can come in, enjoy the matches that they want to enjoy. Soccer is such a multicultural, global event… and it’s our goal to make sure that everybody has a very, very good experience and creates lifelong memories.”
FIFA Official Fan Zone access will not be free, especially when new infrastruture is built for it. It is never free. If you think it will be free, i’ve got oceanfront proprty in Colorado i’d love to show you. And then many of you will arrive and find out they’ve reached their capacity, and you can’t even get in. Happens every 4 years folks. The best place to watch the games is, costly or not, inside the stadium itself.
Global said it was free, but it was going to cost you, but never stated what the cost will be.
So once again its pay, pay, pay a premium price if you want to watch a game at the amphitheatre. All of our tax payers paid for this facility and now if we want to experience it we pay again. That is if you’re privaliged enough to get tickets without having to pay double to the same greedy people who are already re-selling game tickets.