With the World Cup group stage coming to a close on Saturday, the Toronto FIFA Fan Festival “stopped letting people in” after its 20,000-people capacity was reached. Saturday was the “first time the venue was at capacity.” A person in line to enter the Fan Festival said that “ticketholders who were barred from entering were angry.” They described the scene as “pure chaos.” Saturday’s live match broadcasts featured the final World Cup group contests: Panama-England, Croatia-Ghana and Colombia-Portugal (CP24.com, 6/27).
Thousands of soccer fans “packed Houston’s FIFA Fan Festival” on Saturday, “filling the venue to capacity well before kickoff” of Colombia-Portugal. The festival grounds reached its capacity at 7,500 people, about an “hour and a half before the match began, with fans of both countries creating one of the largest crowds the venue has seen since opening.” With both teams still alive in the tournament, organizers said that they are “expecting more large crowds at Houston’s FIFA Fan Festival as the knockout rounds begin” (KHOU.com, 6/27).
Philadelphia’s FIFA Fan Festival hosted “PA Day” on Saturday, and “despite cloudy and rainy conditions, crowds of fans entered the festival grounds again on Saturday for Croatia-Ghana.” The Fan Festival has hosted 250,000 fans since opening on June 1 (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/28).
