Sarah Grunau/ Houston Public Media
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo confirmed her intentions to not seek reelection during a press conference Sept. 16, 2025.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said her concerns about safety and heat during the 2026 FIFA Fan Festival were ignored by top organizers. On the festival’s opening day Thursday in Houston’s East Downtown neighborhood, several people were hospitalized for heat-related illnesses.
In an interview with Houston Public Media on Thursday, Hidalgo said she sent requests for bolstering preparations ahead of the World Cup-related event, but most had been ignored. She also claimed she had been denied access to NRG Stadium, a county-owned facility where Houston is hosting seven matches as part of the international soccer tournament, until two days before the World Cup started.
At the fan festival in East Downtown, a separate location where local residents and visitors can watch the games, four people were hospitalized Thursday and about 20 others were treated for heat-related illnesses, Houston Fire Department Capt. Raul Reyes said.
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Hidalgo said she had previously raised concerns about potential heat-related illnesses and concerns about access to water.
“I sent a set of recommendations and requests and all I got back was, ‘We’ll take that into consideration,’” Hidalgo said. “I said, ‘OK, well, you got to do more than that,’ and then they didn’t respond.”
Chris Canetti, president of the Houston World Cup host committee, told Houston Public Media on Friday evening that event organizers “took a lot of steps in front for heat mitigation, as it relates to shade structures, watering stations, cooling stations, air-conditioned spaces.”
As a result, he said, “Our medical people saw less cases yesterday than they anticipated. And that, I think, was a part of us taking all these steps ahead of time. But when we did have some medical issues, they were dealt with properly, and people were taken care of as they should.”
Regarding Hidalgo’s claims about being denied entry to NRG Stadium until recently, representatives of FIFA and NRG Park did not immediately return requests for comment. The stadium and surrounding NRG Park are under FIFA’s control during the World Cup.
The stadium where the soccer matches are being played has temporarily been rebranded as “Houston Stadium,” because of FIFA’s sponsorship policies.
Hidalgo has had a fractured relationship with NRG Park officials since her dustup with Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo officials earlier this year.
In March, Hidalgo said she was threatened by security and removed from the NRG Stadium during a rodeo concert after she attempted to bring another elected official, two children and the parents of a recently deceased U.S. Air Force sergeant to Megan Moroney’s concert. Rodeo leaders revoked her leadership role with the event after the dispute in which she said she was threatened with arrest and shoved by security personnel in the stadium. Rodeo officials disputed her claims.
Hidalgo said she wasn’t sure if she was denied access to the stadium ahead of the World Cup because of the incident.
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“I think there is a certain group of people, what they have in common is just a fundamental contempt for me as a person,” Hidalgo told Houston Public Media. “Not everybody has to like me. I think as a politician the best you can hope for is to be thought of as just all right. But the position is something else.”
In a video posted to social media on Friday, Hidalgo said about 100 people in the medical area of the fan fest complained about health issues related to the heat. More than 20,000 people attended the event on Thursday, when entry was suspended at one point because the festival had reached its capacity of 7,500 people at a given time.
Hidalgo called her requests low-hanging-fruit changes that could be made to improve conditions — clearer signage by water stations and more cooling areas with misting stations.
She said event organizers have also ignored her staffers’ phone calls.
“I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t think to go do this before, but frankly I think if I requested they would have just said no,” Hidalgo said. “Just like they’re not letting me go to the stadium and not even answering calls.”
Canetti said an estimated 35,000 people were in the EaDo neighborhood on Thursday, about 22,000 of whom came to the fan festival. No arrests were made throughout the day, and he said there were no issues with transportation.
Matthew Moreland, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the East Downtown location where the fan fest is being held is considered a “hot spot.” It will be open nearly every day during the World Cup, which spans until July 19.
“Another thing to remember about that area, when you get the crowds in there and then the location, its all concrete around there, so that makes it even hotter,” Moreland said.
Houston Public Media’s Michael Adkison contributed to this report.