What to expect at Miami's World Cup fan festival
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The FIFA World Cup Miami Countdown Clock at Perez Art Museum Miami. Photo: Ivan Apfel/Getty Images
As Miami's World Cup host committee awaits millions in federal funding for its planned fan festival at Bayfront Park, fans received new details this week about what they might expect from the soccer celebration.
Why it matters: The FIFA Fan Festival at Bayfront Park and other viewing parties — subsidized by around $14.2 million from Miami-Dade County — seek to bring the excitement of the World Cup to the public for free, the Miami Herald reports.
Friction point: The host committee requested about $70 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to help with security and preparations for the tournament and related events, The Athletic reports.
- Ray Martinez, COO of the Miami host committee, told lawmakers last month that fan events would be in jeopardy if the funding doesn't arrive soon, the outlet reported.
- The partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is impacting FEMA, the agency administering the FIFA funding, The Guardian reports.
The latest: The Herald obtained a report outlining the Miami host committee's plans for the Bayfront Park festival.
- FanFest will run seven days a week between June 13 and July 5, airing more than 80 matches from giant TV screens at the Bayfront Park amphitheater.
- There will be DJs, fireworks, youth soccer activities and a "Soccer on the Bay" program involving performers on water-powered jet packs and personal watercraft playing with a big inflatable soccer ball, the Herald reports.
Meanwhile, the city of Miami Beach provided an update last week on the fan events coming to the city.
- A planned concert and watch party on Lummus Park in South Beach is scheduled for June 11.
- Two additional watch parties will be held in the sand bowl behind the Miami Beach Bandshell on July 18 and 19. (Miami Beach has agreed to provide up to $1.75 million in cash payments and city services for the tournament.)
- The Lincoln Road Business Improvement District also has other proposals before FIFA.
What's next: The Miami host committee said in a statement on Feb. 25 that planning for the Bayfront Park fan festival remained "fully underway."
- Organizers said they were confident that "appropriate federal resources will be allocated in a timely and coordinated manner to support tournament planning and operations."
- Reached on Tuesday, a host committee spokesperson referred back to the earlier statement.