Tickets still available for PNE amphitheatre seats to watch Team Canada’s opener June 12 in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina
The price to buy a 355 milliliter can of beer at the Vancouver FIFA Fan Festival will range from $9.50 to $10.50, according to menu prices posted on the “express bar” huts set up on the PNE grounds.
Choices for beer are limited to five brands: Michelob Ultra ($9.50), Corona ($10.50), Stella Artois ($10.50), Stanley Park SunSetter Peach Wheat Ale ($9.50) and Northwest IPA ($10.50).
Canned cocktails and seltzers, also in 355 milliliter cans, feature two brands: NUTRL Vodka Soda ($10.50) and Cutwater Lemon Drop/Lime Margarita ($14.00). A non-alcoholic Michelob Ultra Zero costs $6.00.
Other beverages for sale include Dasani water ($4.75), Coca-Cola ($5.00), Coke Zero Sugar ($5.00) and FUZE Iced Tea ($5.00).
The fan festival, which opens June 11, has a liquor licence for the entire site, which means a person can buy a beer at a bar and walk throughout the grounds with the beverage. An area called “the vineyard” featuring Okanagan wines was set up Wednesday, but prices were not visible.
Business In Vancouver recorded the prices for beer and other beverages during a media tour Wednesday of the festival site. The set-up is similar in many ways to the summer fair, although event organizers have added themed areas: the campground, the neighbourhood and the backyard.
Mr. Shawarma, Paella Guys & Co
Food options include Peacock by Vij’s, NUBA, La Taqueria, Paella Guys & Co, Riz Sushi, MunChi German Food, Chouchou Crepes, Rosie’s Rotisserie, Truckin’ BBQ, Gary’s Kettlecorn, Roasted Revolution, Pastaria by Pastaggio, Japadog, Rosie’s BBQ, Berry Sweet, Ranallo’s-Autentico Pizza and Casereccio Gelato.
Food trucks stationed on site include Lee’s Donuts, Dos Amigos, Taco Nori, REEL Mac and Cheese, The Mad Greek, Mr. Shawarma, Aloha Poke, Macondo Colombian Cuisine, Mahshiko, Turkish Street Kitchen, Rumble Fish, Tochi Dessert, Mom’s Grilled Cheese and Jamaican Mi Juicy.
Some of the food stalls have been branded as “sideline slices,” “pitchside poutine” and “kickin’ chicken” to keep with the soccer theme. Workers inside the Doritos Loaded Nachos hut handed out food samples to media during Wednesday’s tour.
The PNE amphitheatre will broadcast FIFA World Cup games on a big screen. Concerts will also be held during the tournament. Photo Mike Howell
Feist, Wolf Parade
The key attraction at the festival site is the 10,000-seat amphitheatre, which features a large stage and screens. The $183.7-million facility was not built solely for the World Cup, but opened this month and will continue to operate after the tournament.
On game days, spectators can choose to buy a ticket for a seat, or take a chance on getting a first-come-first-serve free standing-room only spot in front of the stage. Various artists will be performing on game days.
Feist, TDM and Wolf Parade, for example, will play concerts July 15 in between a semi-final match broadcast on the amphitheatre’s screen. TDM will perform at 10 a.m., the game will follow at noon, then Wolf Parade comes on at 2:10. Feist will headline at 3:15 p.m.
Jessie Adcock, lead of the Vancouver Host Committee, said admission to the festival site is free, but non-ticket holders for the concerts cannot access the amphitheatre seats or the lawn at the back of the facility.
Adcock said there is an advantage to buying a ticket.
“You pay for that seat, it’s yours for the entire day that the fan festival is open that day,” she said. “You can come and go from that seat. You can watch concerts from that seat that are happening that day. You can watch the matches from that seat that are happening that day.”
Some of the food offerings shown to media Wednesday at the FIFA Fan Festival site. Photo Mike Howell
‘Biggest watch party in the province’
Tickets are available via TicketLeader, which was advertising Wednesday a pair of fourth row seats for $253.70 to view—via a large screen —Team Canada’s opening match June 12 against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Famous Players, Down With Webster and The Funk Hunters are scheduled to perform.
Asked how ticket sales were going, Adcock said “they’re doing as expected.”
“The big games are more sold out than others—the final, the Canada matches, and then we are seeing a bump week over week as we get closer to the event,” she said.
Across 28 days, more than 70 matches will be broadcast live on screens throughout the festival grounds. Organizers have said more than 120 artists will perform, including those playing at the “park stage” on the grounds.
Seven matches will be played at BC Place Stadium, including Team Canada taking on Qatar June 18 and Switzerland June 24. The opening match at the stadium is June 13 and features Australia versus Turkiye.
Net costs for the FIFA Fan Festival are projected at $26 million. Organizers are expecting up to 25,000 visitors per day. Adcock said the amphitheatre will be one of the best places to watch the matches across the entire city.
“This is going to be the heart and soul of the biggest watch party in the province,” she said.
Burnaby-Central MP Wade Chang, B.C. cabinet minister Anne Kang, Vancouver Coun. Mike Klassen, Mayor Ken Sim and Coun. Lenny Zhou on the PNE grounds Wednesday. Photo Mike Howell
‘Absolutely incredible’
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim was joined Wednesday by provincial and federal politicians at the fan festival site to promote the international soccer tournament, which kicks off June 11 in Mexico.
Sim, Anne Kang, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, and Burnaby-Central Liberal MP Wade Chang each took turns at the microphone at what resembled at times a pep rally, with social media influencers cheering on the politicians.
“It’s just going to be absolutely incredible,” said Sim, wearing Team Canada superstar Alphonso Davies’ jersey. “I think I can say that we all feel the energy here.”
Kang noted Sports Illustrated recently selected Vancouver as the top host city.
She attributed the ranking to “amazing venues, iconic views,” the transformation of Science World into the official FIFA match ball, “our world-renowned” Vancouver International Airport, hospitality and the fan festival.
Chang described the fan festival as a “truly special” because it was “community-focused and accessible.” He said the festival will combine the very best of global soccer with the best of local culture, food, art and diversity.
“Standing here today at the PNE, you can already feel the immense energy, the ambition, and the pride that defines Vancouver,” he said.
Wednesday’s news conference was opened by members of the Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Each nation will have booths at the festival site that allow visitors to get educated about the province’s Indigenous history.
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