The Netherlands will play Sweden at noon on Saturday at Houston Stadium, the venue usually known as NRG Stadium. Before the match, however, the area around the stadium will be taken over by fans clad in orange as part of the Oranje Fanwalk. Starting at 8:45 a.m., Netherlands fans will march around 2.5 miles from Rice Stadium to NRG.
“The arrival of the Oranje fans will bring tremendous energy to our city. Houston welcomes thousands of Dutch supporters with open arms and looks forward to all the festivities to come,” Chris Canetti, the president of Houston’s World Cup host committee, said in a statement.
“We are proud that our city will serve as the backdrop for this orange spectacle.”
The Oranje Fanwalk is easily one of the World Cup’s best traditions. Fans, accompanied by the delightful double-decker Oranje Bus, dance and chant as they march to each Netherlands match. That was on display this weekend, when thousands of Dutch fans attended the fanwalk in Arlington for the Netherlands’ World Cup opener against Japan on Sunday. The area around Dallas Stadium was temporarily a sea of orange.
Houston will be no different; Kim van Wijk, the chairwoman of the Dutch Orange Bus, told the Houston Chronicle in May that she expects 10,000 fans to participate this Saturday.
How, exactly, the fanwalk, organized by the Dutch Football Federation, began is unclear. A loud orange is the team’s color as an homage to the national color of the Netherlands dating back to medieval times. The iconic double-decker bus that guides the walk, purchased by Dutch football fans over 20 years ago, is a newer addition. Besides Arlington last weekend and the upcoming walk on Saturday, a fanwalk will be held before the Dutch team’s match against Tunisia in Kansas City on June 25.
The Netherlands national team boasts one of international soccer’s most passionate fanbases, fitting for a team that is one of the most successful to never win the World Cup. The Oranje, as they’re known, have appeared in a World Cup final three separate times. Coming into Saturday’s match, FIFA ranks Netherlands as the No. 8 team in the tournament and Sweden as No. 35.
No exact route for the Oranje Fanwalk has been announced, but Houston Police and the Dutch Football Federation are coordinating on the event and streets will be closed on a rolling basis. However, any walk from Rice to NRG will take visitors through Houston’s Medical Center and down Main Street. Anybody visiting that area who doesn’t want to participate in the festivities may want to find an alternate route.