FIFA Fan Festival

2010 Cape Town FIFA Fan Fest Logo

The FIFA Fan Fests are public viewing events organized by FIFA and its partners which allow people to watch the FIFA World Cup with thousands of fans from all around the world. The Fan Fest first became part of the official program for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, following the huge success of unofficial public viewing events in South Korea during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It was a great success, leading FIFA to expand it to include several cities worldwide for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The locations are large enough to fit many thousands of people, and feature gigantic LED displays which broadcast the matches live.

History

2006

The 2006 FIFA Fan Fest was started up to allow people who couldn't either afford or buy tickets in time for the World Cup to cheer on their national teams with other supporters. It created a carnival-like atmosphere and was a raging success as thousands of supporters flocked to the sites to watch all the games, which were broadcast live.

2010

The concept was further developed for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when not only the South African host cities but 7 other cities around the world had set up public viewing for the fans to watch the matches in 2010. Over six million football fans gathered to watch the tournament.

Locations

South Africa

2014

Due to the overwhelming success of the 2010 edition, FIFA announced that they would be holding FIFA Fan Fests in each of Brazil's 12 host cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Prominent examples are the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, which already held a Fan Fest in 2010, São Paulo's Vale do Anhangabaú and Brasília's Esplanada dos Ministérios, with the Congress in the background.^[1]^[2] The official "kick-off event" for the 2014 Fan Fest took place on Iracema Beach, in Fortaleza, on Sunday, June 8, 2014.^[3] The tournament also had the first time a Fan Fest got closed in a matchday, as on July 4 Belo Horizonte's event did not open due to a mourning period for an overpass collapse that happened the previous day.^[4]

Locations

Brazil^[5]

Rio de Janeiro – Praia de Copacabana (Copacabana Beach)
Sao Paulo – Vale do Anhangabaú (Anhangabaú Valley)
Brasília – Taguaparque (Taguatinga)
Belo Horizonte – Expominas (Expominas Expositions Centre)
Cuiabá – Parque de Exposições (Expositions Park)
Curitiba – Pedreira Paulo Leminski (Paulo Leminski Quarry)
Fortaleza – Praia de Iracema (Iracema Beach)
Manaus – Praia Ponta Negra (Black Beach)
Natal – Praia do Forte (Fort Beach)
Porto Alegre – Anfiteatro Pôr-do-Sol (Sunset Amphitheatre)
Recife – Cais da Alfândega (Customhouse Wharf).
Salvador – Farol da Barra (Barra Lighthouse)

2018

Locations

Russia

Moscow – Krasnaya Ploshchad' (Red Square)
St. Petersburg – Vasilyevsky Ostrov (Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange and Rostral Columns)
Kazan – Qazan Kremlesi (Kazan Kremlin)
Sochi – Olimpiysky Park Sochi (Sochi Olympic Park)
Volgograd – Mamayev Kurgan
Nizhny Novgorod – Ploshchad' Minina i Pozharskogo (Minin and Pozharsky Square)
Rostov on Don – Bolshaya Sadovaya Ulitsa (Big Garden Street)
Kaliningrad – Ploshchad' Pobedy/Siegesplatz (Victory Square, Kaliningrad)
Yekaterinburg – Ploshchad' 1905 goda (1905 Square)
Samara, Russia – Ploshchad' Kuybysheva (Kuibyshev Square)
Saransk - Sovetskaya Square

Gallery

The Berlin Fan Mile (Fanmeile) in 2010 on the 17th June Street, View from the Press Tower
The giant screen being set up at Darling Harbour
The main screen at Darling Harbour during the Serbia V Ghana match
One of the screens set up at Darling Harbour during the Germany V Australia game, located in front of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
The Fan Fest in Trocadéro, Paris
Fans during the 2010 FIFA World Cup third-place match between Germany and Uruguay at the FIFA Fan Fest Arena in Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro
2014 Fan Fest in Brasília, during the opening match Brazil V Croatia.
Fans during Chile V Spain, on Rio de Janeiro, 2014.