Following a long-running FIFA World Cup tradition, each of the 16 host cities of the 2026 FIFA Fan Festival is required to stage an official FIFA Fan Festival.
And after previous hints and FIFA’s final approval, the City of Vancouver has now announced that the PNE fairgrounds at Hastings Park will be the venue of the FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver.
It will take advantage of the new 10,000-seat PNE Amphitheatre being built, which is expected to reach completion in 2026, just in time for the five-week-long tournament.
“The PNE is absolutely thrilled to be named the official FIFA Fan Festival site,” said PNE president and CEO Shelley Frost in a statement.
“This is an opportunity to host not only our city and province, but the entire world in a once-in-a-generation event for any city. Additionally, the spectacular new amphitheatre, which will open in time for FIFA World Cup 2026, will be an important arts and cultural legacy venue for British Columbia.”
The new 1amphitheatre features a giant mass-timber roof to provide weather protection and is backdropped by the North Shore mountains. Construction of the $104 million venue on the former footprint of the PNE’s 1960s-built amphitheatre began last month.
May 2024 artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)
May 2024 artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)
The Vancouver festival will start on June 11, 2026, and end on July 19, 2026. Detailed planning is underway, and the dates and hours of operation, programming, activations, and specific content will be announced at a later date. However, following FIFA’s specifications, it is known that live screenings of the matches will be central to the programming.
It is not immediately clear how much of the PNE fairgrounds beyond the amphitheatre will be used for the festivities.
In April, the municipal government began the bidding process for seeking an experienced event planning firm to lead the staging and organizing of the fan festival. The procurement intake closed in mid-May.
“The FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver promises to be the ultimate destination for those without a match ticket to soak in the excitement during the 2026 tournament,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim in a statement today.
“Packed with live entertainment, cultural showcases, delicious food, and so much more, this event is set to create an unforgettable fan experience right here in Vancouver. Families, football lovers, and visitors will be buzzing about it for generations to come!”
It was also revealed today that Vancouver’s host city motto is “A Force of Nature!”
May 2024 artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (PNE)
May 2024 artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (PNE)
Last month, the PNE announced Freedom Mobile has been selected as the amphitheatre’s naming rights sponsor over 10 years, beginning in 2026. Following a public vote that ended last week, the precise venue name bearing Freedom Mobile’s name is expected to be announced soon. However, due to FIFA’s regulations relating to the existing naming rights of venues, the amphitheatre will likely be given a neutral temporary name throughout the duration of the tournament.
During the 2010 Winter Olympics, the official fan festivals were held at David Lam Park (Live City Yaletown) on the North False Creek waterfront near SkyTrain’s Yaletown-Roundhouse Station, and at the Larwill parking lot block (Live City Downtown) next to Queen Elizabeth Theatre and SkyTrain’s Stadium-Chinatown Station.
For the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a small official fan festival was held at the Larwill parking lot, which is now being developed into the new home of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park during the 2010 Winter Olympics. (Alfred Shum/Flickr)
Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park during the 2010 Winter Olympics. (Alfred Shum/Flickr)
Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park during the 2010 Winter Olympics. (Alfred Shum/Flickr)
As announced earlier this year, the 55,000-seat BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver will host a total of seven matches across seven dates spanning from June 13 to July 7, with the last Vancouver match being a coveted knockout Round of 16 match.
It remains to be seen what kind of transportation strategy will be put into place between downtown Vancouver — where many fans are expected to congregate — and the Vancouver FIFA Fan Festival site at Hastings Park.
According to the municipal government’s procurement files for an event organizer, preliminary estimates indicate an average of 15,000 people may attend the fan festival each day.
For decades, such fan festivals — held at attractive locations — have been a longstanding tradition for each host city of the FIFA World Cup, and they provide locals and visitors with another way to enjoy the tournament, especially if they are unable to attend a match at the stadium. These fan festivals have been typically free to attend.
2022 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival in Doha, Qatar. (FIFA)
2014 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. (Andre Luiz Moreira/Shutterstock)
Rio de Janeiro’s FIFA Fan Festival during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. (A.RICARDO/Shutterstock)