SCRANTON \u2014 Local soccer fans and \u201990s music aficionados have a lot to be excited about next month, when the Grammy-nominated bands Hanson and Tonic will perform for free during FIFA World Cup Fan Zone events planned on Lackawanna County Courthouse Square.<\/p>\n
Lackawanna County Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Curt Camoni joined city and county leaders Tuesday to announce those and other musical acts set to play the square when Scranton hosts one of just three official Pennsylvania World Cup Fan Zones there July 4, 5, 18 and 19. They forecasted a party atmosphere downtown, with live music and a wealth of activities complementing the live broadcast of World Cup matches on a massive main stage viewing screen planned for the North Washington Avenue side of the square.<\/p>\n
![\"Curt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/STT-L-FANZONE-0624-02.jpg\")
Curt Camoni, executive director at the Lackawanna County Convention and Visitors Bureau, speaks during a press conference on the FIFA Fan Zone in the Governor\u2019s Room of City Hall in downtown Scranton Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n
Matches also will be broadcast on smaller screens \u2014 including at least one airing the games in Spanish \u2014 located on each corner of the square, which will feature a beer garden, an LED soccer simulator, a kids zone and \u201cskills & drills clinics\u201d hosted by local soccer clubs on a custom turf-field area that will be installed on Biden Street, among other offerings.<\/p>\n
The musical lineup kicks off July 4 with Cruel Summer, a Taylor Swift tribute band, followed July 5 by Eco Del Sur, which will perform music from across Latin America, and the \u201cBritpop\u201d tribute act The Wankers. Hanson will perform July 18 before Tonic takes the stage July 19, ahead of the World Cup final.<\/p>\n
Tulsa-bred Hanson, best known for their 1997 smash hit \u201cMMMBop,\u201d has a catalogue that also includes \u201cI Will Come to You,\u201d \u201cWhere\u2019s the Love\u201d and other popular songs. Los Angeles-based Tonic\u2019s most famous hit, \u201cIf You Could Only See,\u201d was one of three singles from their debut studio album, \u201cLemon Parade.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mission was absolutely to have a festival-like atmosphere and to really blow up these watch zones and fan zones, not only for the people of Scranton and Lackawanna County, but the larger Northeast Pennsylvania region and any visitors that we could bring in,\u201d Camoni said Tuesday before quoting fictional Dunder Mifflin boss Michael Scott of the beloved Scranton-set sitcom The Office. \u201cA very wise man once said \u2018there ain\u2019t no party like a Scranton party,\u2019 but that also comes with a heck of a lot of pressure when you\u2019re throwing what could be one of the largest Scranton parties in a generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Times-Shamrock](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/STT-L-FANZONE-0624-01.jpg\")
Times-Shamrock Communications Senior Vice President and Market Manager for NEPA Radio & Digital Terry Deitz speaks during a press conference on the FIFA Fan Zone in the Governor\u2019s Room of City Hall in downtown Scranton. Tuesday, June. 23, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG\/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n
Officials feel even more prepared to meet the moment after accommodating massive crowds that recently descended on the city to see the visiting Union Pacific Big Boy 4014, the world\u2019s largest operating steam locomotive, at Steamtown National Historic Site. The 4014 will remain on display next to Steamtown\u2019s nonoperational Big Boy 4012 until it departs the morning of July 1.<\/p>\n
Like the Big Boy visit, local leaders expect the World Cup festivities to draw large crowds and be a boon for businesses in and around downtown.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very excited to be able to look back now on the first week of Big Boy and see that there was a lot of commerce that came into the downtown as a result of all those visitors,\u201d Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said, noting some restaurants sold out of food during the influx. \u201cWe are looking at I think 85,000 tickets sold for Big Boy, and then we\u2019re looking forward to rolling right in, pun intended, to the FIFA Fan Zone. This is a remarkable month for the city of Scranton, for Lackawanna County, as we celebrate America\u2019s 250th birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner Thom Welby echoed the mayor\u2019s excitement, calling the Big Boy festivities \u201cfantastic practice\u201d for local first responders and others who\u2019ve done an \u201cincredible job\u201d managing the large crowds while keeping everyone safe.<\/p>\n
Building on that point, Commissioner Bill Gaughan said Courthouse Square will become \u201cthe living room of Lackawanna County\u201d during the fan zone festivities, \u201ca place where families gather, friends reconnect and visitors from throughout the region come together to celebrate the world\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scranton shares the honor of hosting an official World Cup fan zone with Pittsburgh and Reading, the other two Pennsylvania fan zone cities. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is serving as a U.S. host city for World Cup matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best economic development strategy is giving people a reason to come downtown \u2014 to eat at our restaurants, to enjoy our small businesses \u2014 and that\u2019s exactly what this event is going to do,\u201d Gaughan said, describing the diverse mix of domestic and international visitors who came to Scranton to see the mammoth locomotive. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to see the exact same thing here, because there\u2019s people that are not going to want to drive to Philadelphia. They\u2019re going to want to get the experience here in Scranton.\u201d<\/p>\n
That Scranton and Lackawanna County were chosen as a fan zone site is a testament to the progress that\u2019s been made locally, he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo soccer is going to bring people here,\u201d Gaughan said. \u201cWhat they\u2019ll remember, though, is the experience. They\u2019ll remember a packed Courthouse Square. They will remember great music. They\u2019ll remember local restaurants and businesses. They\u2019ll remember that Scranton and Lackawanna County know how to throw a party, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re so excited about this big announcement today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Per a schedule organizers provided Tuesday, Scranton Fan Zone hours are: July 4, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; July 5, from 2-11 p.m.; July 18, from 3-8 p.m.; and July 19, from 1-6 p.m.<\/p>\n
Fan zone events are being managed locally by Times-Shamrock Media LLC. Fan zone activities, including the musical performances, are free. Tickets are not required.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON \u2014 Local soccer fans and \u201990s music aficionados have a lot to be excited about next month,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[157,27442,267,9,11,10,49,51,50,12,3909,27443,400,319,904,33009],"class_list":["post-275743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-entertainment","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-things-to-do","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}