Vancouver's 2026 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival could be held at the PNE

Artistic renderings of the new PNE Amphitheatre at Hastings Park in Vancouver (Revery Architecture/City of Vancouver) and the 2022 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival in Doha, Qatar (FIFA).

A massive world-class festival will coincide with Vancouver’s co-hosting of the FIFA World Cup in Summer 2026.

As per FIFA World Cup tradition, following FIFA’s requirements, each host city for the tournament is required to stage a FIFA Fan Festival throughout the duration of the tournament.

This is a free large-scale elaborate festival, providing an added experience for the general public to take in the tournament — especially if they are unable to land on any match tickets — and effectively enhance a host city’s experience. Its programming includes not only live screenings of the matches, but also other activations such as live music, arts, culture, and hospitality hosting.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be no exception, with all 16 host cities in Canada, the United States, and Mexico required to put on their own FIFA Fan Festival throughout the tournament, which will last 39 days this year — about a week longer than previous tournaments, due to the expanded format.

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As announced earlier this month, 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. The tournament will open in Mexico City on June 11 and climax in New Jersey/New York on July 19.

Each FIFA Fan Festival is designed to accommodate thousands of people at any given time.

2018 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival site in Moscow. (MagioreStock/Shutterstock)

Rostov-on-Don 2018 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival. (Anna Kovalevich/Shutterstock)

Rio de Janeiro’s FIFA Fan Festival during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. (A.RICARDO/Shutterstock)

2014 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. (Andre Luiz Moreira/Shutterstock)

rio de janeiro 2014 fifa world cup fan festival

2014 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. (Andre Luiz Moreira/Shutterstock)

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2022 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival in Doha, Qatar. (FIFA)

To fulfill its requirements, the City of Vancouver confirmed to Daily Hive Offside that it is currently recommending to FIFA that the PNE fairgrounds in Hastings Park in East Vancouver be used for the five-week-long Vancouver festival. However, the City says a final decision has yet to be announced by their delivery partners and FIFA.

The City adds that the final details on their FIFA Fan Festival will not be available until FIFA has completed their process for announcing sites in all host cities, which the City expects to be made before this summer.

The municipal government did not provide their rationale for recommending the PNE, but the use of the fairgrounds coincides with the completion of a major new entertainment venue at the location — the $104 million new PNE Amphitheatre, which will be a covered outdoor venue under a landmark mass-timber roof with a capacity for up to 10,000 people. On a clear day, it will also be backdropped by the North Shore Mountains.

Construction on the footprint of the existing dilapidated amphitheatre begins early this year for a targeted completion by early 2026.

Artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)

pne amphitheatre new design revery architecture

Artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)

For past tournaments, FIFA generally had a preference for festival sites within close proximity to the stadium venues, given the critical mass synergies for fan atmosphere, and at iconic, central, and accessible locations.

For example, Cape Town held their 2010 festival at the Grand Parade, and Rio de Janeiro staged their 2014 festival at Copacabana Beach.

Seattle has already indicated it is proposing to host its 2026 festival at its new Waterfront Park — a newly revamped major public space on the downtown Seattle waterfront, as part of its public realm project following the demolition of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. It is expected to reach completion in 2025.

“On the edge of the Salish Sea, Seattle’s Fan Fest will take place on the new Waterfront Park, a convening point from time immemorial. This location is within walking or biking distance from Seattle Stadium, and puts fans from all over the world in the heart of the city, with easy access to ground-floor small businesses and historic neighbourhoods that make Seattle unique,” reads the description by Seattle’s FIFA World Cup organizers.

Toronto’s 2026 festival site could potentially be located at Exhibition Place on the fairgrounds of the CNE, taking advantage of the event-friendly space and the ability to co-locate it with their stadium venue of BMO Field, or at Nathan Philip Square at Toronto City Hall in downtown Toronto. Both sites were also used for major fan festivals during the 2015 Pan American Games.

seattle 2026 fifa world cup fan festival waterfront park

Artistic rendering of Seattle’s 2026 FIFA Fan Festival held at the new Waterfront Park on the downtown Seattle waterfront. (Gensler/City of Seattle)

Artistic rendering of the new waterfront in downtown Seattle. (City of Seattle)

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Exhibition Grounds transformed into the CIBC Pan Am Park during the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. (PNH Solutions)

toronto nathan philips square 2015 pan american games panamania

Panamania fan festival at Nathan Phillips Square at Toronto City Hall in downtown Toronto during the 2015 Pan American Games. (PNH Solutions)

During the 2010 Winter Olympics, the City of Vancouver established two major fan festival sites in downtown Vancouver — Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park, and Live City Downtown at Larwill Park parking lot, which is set to become a construction site over the coming years for the new home of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The cost of staging both Live City festival locations, which featured high-quality programming and activations, including nightly fireworks, was about $18 million.

For the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a comparatively small-scale fan festival was held at the Larwill Park parking lot. The entire cost of staging this festival was about $1.2 million.

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 Downtown at Larwill Park during the 2010 Winter Olympics. (City of Vancouver)

In 2017/2018, during the bidding phase, the City of Vancouver estimated the 2026 FIFA Fan Festival would carry a cost of between $10 million and $20 million to stage.

In 2022, the provincial government indicated the planning, staging, and hosting of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Vancouver will carry a total cost between $240 million and $260 million. This includes any potential contributions from the federal government and the City of Vancouver, stadium and training site rentals and other sources, the FIFA Fan Festival, and potential marketing opportunities that are expected to generate revenue.

With the announcement of the match allocations earlier this month, some decisions are also expected to be made on the official practice venues for the competing visiting national teams later this year.

2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Fan Zone Larwill Park

2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Fan Festival at Larwill Park in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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