FIFA Fan Festival

The FIFA Fan Festivals are public viewing events organized by FIFA and the host cities during the FIFA World Cup. FIFA Fan Festivals (initially named FIFA Fan Fests) followed the success of public viewing at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and became an essential part of the tournament since the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Fan Festivals take place in iconic locations of the host cities and feature broadcasts of football matches on giant screens, live concerts, parties, food, beverages, and other activities and entertainment. In 2022, FIFA reintroduced Fan Festivals under the new name for the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar.

History

Background

Public screenings of sports and particularly football tournaments weren't a new thing by the beginning of the 21st century. The first 1930 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay was broadcast on radio and fans gathered around receiving stations. FIFA pioneered TV broadcasts of football tournaments during the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, and people in many countries carried TVs on the streets and watched them collectively with their neighbors. The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France was the first one to be broadcast on giant screens in city centers, but at that time the invention of massive public viewing was an anticipated effect of ticket shortage caused by a variety of factors.

2002, South Korea

The 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, the first World Cup to be held in Asia, surprised the world with Korea's unique culture of public viewing and street cheering. Japanese authorities considered enthusiastic fan behavior deviant, acted restrictive on the matter of public viewing and limited it to specific sites, i.e. the National Stadium in Tokyo where nearly 45 thousand people gathered to watch broadcasts of games taking place at Osaka and Sendai. Korean public administration, on the contrary, tolerated public demonstration of fan excitement and supported the creation of public viewing areas (PVAs) in an urban environment where people could watch the games on so-called "big screens". In addition to PVAs set up by local authorities and electric bulletin boards on the buildings many local companies arranged mobile screens on trucks.

The South Korea national football team showed remarkable performance throughout the tournament, and its supporters swarmed the streets and squares to watch broadcasts on the screens and celebrate collectively. The police tolerated extreme demonstrations of fan excitement, and Korean media portrayed street supporters in a positive light. Korean-style street cheering organized by the national team's supporting group Red Devils became a worldwide impression as nearly 7 million Koreans (1 in 7 of the population) gathered at PVAs during the semi-final game between South Korea and Germany. Public broadcasts and street cheering provided World Cup with a different "culture of viewing" that combined experience of high-quality TV broadcast and out-of-home reception at the stadium where companionship intensified the entertainment and enhanced the feelings.

2006, Germany

In preparation for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, FIFA and the Organizing Committee sought a way to accommodate people planning to visit the World Cup. The experience of past World Cups and public viewing was conceptualized in 4-weeks long events for football supporters to meet, board, interact, partake in cultural activities, and watch all 64 games on giant video walls. Since 2004 the details on costs, logistics, safety issues, marketing, and broadcast rights were jointly hammered out by FIFA and the Host Cities Those public viewing events that became known under the name of Fan Fests served as an idea to provide football supporters without tickets a legitimate opportunity to partake in the World Cup. Unlike the past tournaments where ticketless fans were treated as security risks, the World Cup in Germany welcomed all football supporters thus generating a positive atmosphere even before the tournament began. Even though security planners and media were skeptical and cautious on the matter of public viewing, the skepticism was cast aside with the beginning of the World Cup.

Fan Fests for the 2006 FIFA World Cup were set up in 12 Host Cities and attracted 21 million visitors throughout the tournament according to German National Tourist Board (FIFA claimed there were over 18 million visitors). Berlin "Fanmeile" located at pedestrianized Straße des 17. Juni between Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column with 14 consecutive video walls attracted 9 million fans over the duration of the World Cup with nearly 1 million supporters for each German football team game. For the first time in German history, an event scored more visitors than Oktoberfest. Cologne Fan Fest scored 3 million visitors followed by 1.9 million in Frankfurt, 1.5 million in Stuttgart, 1.46 million in Hamburg, 1 million per Dortmund and Munich, 500 thousand per Nuremberg and Hannover, 471 thousand in Leipzig, 350 thousand in Gelsenkirchen and 205 thousand in Kaiserslautern. Those numbers exceeded all expectations, and some of the Host Cities had to expand the Fan Fest areas in the middle of the World Cup. The most popular Fan Fests were located in the inner city areas, and the approach to keep the city center generally "fan-free" applied by the authorities of Nuremberg proved ineffective as many football supporters preferred to stay in the picturesque city center. According to surveys conducted during the 2006 FIFA World Cup at the Fan Fests in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Munich 28% of visitors traveled over 100 kilometers to attend the event, and up to 84% came there together with friends. Around 21% of foreigners interviewed at Fan Fests visited Germany to see the World Cup without tickets to any game. Media coverage of events had an additional positive effect as pictures of fans celebrating in front of giant screens attracted even more visitors from neighboring European countries that spontaneously decided to take part in celebrations at Fan Fests.

Despite minor inconsistencies in planning and execution, the Fan Fest concept was so successful, that numerous people later claimed personal responsibility for the invention. The visitors' expectations regarding Fan Fests were fulfilled. Throughout the World Cup Fan Fests served as modern market square