Vancouver's FIFA Fan Festival closed for an extra day this week
The FIFA Fan Festival has been a hit in Vancouver.
Held on the PNE fairgrounds at Hastings Park, the festival site has a max capacity of 25,000 at any given time, which includes the new amphitheatre, which can hold 10,000.
On Sunday, for the first time, the festival announced that it had hit its max capacity and had to stop letting people into the park.
“FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver is officially at capacity and entry will now move to a one-in, one-out system,” the festival announced via social media.
The announcement was made at 12:56 p.m., during Canada’s match against South Africa. Another announcement was made at 2:56 p.m. after the match concluded to say that the gates had reopened.
Total attendance on the day was 29,333. The record-high attendance so far came on June 18, when 40,943 fans came to Hastings Park on the day Canada played Qatar at BC Place.
FIFA Fan Festival isn’t open every day
FIFA Fan Festival reached capacity during Canada’s match on Sunday. (Kenny Ho/Daily Hive)
The festival has been closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so far, and this week, it’ll also be closed on Wednesday.
The timing isn’t great for World Cup fans wanting to watch the flurry of knockout round matches scheduled this week. It’s also not ideal if you wanted to spend Canada Day at the park.
The FIFA Fan Festival reopens on Thursday, from 12 p.m. to midnight. Portugal vs. Croatia airs at 4 p.m. Switzerland vs. Algeria, which is being held at BC Place, will air at 8 p.m. Concerts at the amphitheatre that day include JJ Wilde (6:50 p.m.) and Simple Plan (10:10 p.m.).
Expect the park to be especially busy on Saturday morning, when Canada plays next at 10 a.m.
It’s best to check the FIFA Fan Festival schedule before attending. Also, keep in mind that there are other watch parties that you can attend around the city.