We Went to the FIFA World Cup Fan Festivals as Producers. Here's Our Honest Breakdown.
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
What does it actually take to turn a city into a venue for 100,000 fans?
Our owner had the opportunity to attend to the FIFA World Cup 2026 Fan Festivals in Kansas City and Houston to find out. Not just as a spectator — also as an event producer. Here's his honest breakdown.
KANSAS CITY — THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE
NAILED IT
Kansas City showed up for this moment. The city-wide branding was exceptional from the airport arrivals hall to the streets surrounding the festival; the attention to detail was everywhere. Small touches, consistent theming, and genuine civic pride were baked into every surface. This is what it looks like when a host city fully commits to the experience beyond the festival gates. Kansas City, take a bow!
KC FAN FESTIVAL — ENTRANCE EXPERIENCE
COULD HAVE BEEN STREAMLINED
This was the most avoidable miss of the Kansas City experience. The set up was one long queue snaking down the street, with no option to move closer to the entry gates until the moment doors opened. The fix we would have recommended was right there: start queuing earlier, create defined lanes, give people a sense of forward momentum even when they're waiting.
On Saturday, the festival didn't open until 2pm, exactly when France kicked off. Fans who wanted to get in, grab a drink, find a spot, and settle in before the match had no chance to do so. That's a scheduling decision that could have been flagged and reconsidered. Entrance experience is the first impression. We would have recommended more time ahead of the match to let fans get settled and start building excitement for the main event.
KC FAN FESTIVAL — LEGACY LOUNGE
A LOT TO LIKE
The concept was right. The Legacy Lounge is a premium hospitality space inside a fan festival and is exactly the kind of tiered experience upgrade that works in theory. But on a packed Saturday, the Legacy Lounge sat largely empty. If we were producing this event, we would have brought pricing more in line with the general public's budget and clarified the value of the experience from the first interaction with ticket purchasing.
The Premium Garden, on the other hand? Fantastic! It was an approachable upgrade, had a great atmosphere, and clearly defined value. That's the model we'd recommend for other events.
KC FAN FESTIVAL — SPONSOR ACTIVATIONS
NAILED IT
Bank of America, Home Depot, and Coca-Cola all showed up with activations worth talking about. When sponsor integrations feel like part of the experience rather than interruptions to it, everybody wins: the brand, the festival, and the fan! Kansas City got this right.
HOUSTON FAN FESTIVAL — BONUS ROUND
NAILED IT
Houston deserves a mention for one standout detail: an indoor festival space that gave attendees a genuine respite from the heat without losing the energy of the event. In June. In Texas. That's not a small thing. Rather, that's a production decision that made the experience meaningfully better for thousands of people. It felt like the perfect example of smart, guest-first thinking.
The bottom line: Fan Festivals like the events for FIFA host cities are some of the most complex outdoor production challenges in the events industry. When we get it right, the experience feels completely effortless. When we miss, it's almost always in the places guests encounter first: arrival, entry, first impression.
The gap between what fans feel and what producers know is exactly where great event teams live.
We get ____ done.
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