‘Built to host the world’: 95 days out, Atlanta says it’s ready for World Cup
We’re ready, we’re ready, we’re ready.
That’s the message officials working with the Atlanta World Cup Host Committee repeated Thursday in an update on logistics ahead of the big event — now less than 100 days away.
“We are built to host the world, and we are built to be on the world stage,” said Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council and a member of the host committee.
Organizing a multiweek event featuring teams and fans from across the world is “amazingly complex,” said Tim Zulawski, president of the Arthur M. Blank Sports and Entertainment organization. But Atlanta’s experience hosting mega events, from the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games to the Super Bowl and national college football championships, has positioned the city well for the international FIFA World Cup games, he said.
Atlanta knows how to host a good event, and fans are going to have a good time, Zulawski promised.
“We want their experience in Mercedes-Benz Stadium and in Atlanta and in Georgia to be the greatest memory of their life,” he said.
There will be something for everyone, even those who can’t snag a ticket. At the heart of the plans are the downtown events planned at Centennial Olympic Park, which will be transformed into the city’s official FIFA Fan Festival. But organizers hope visitors explore beyond downtown, too, and that native Atlantans embrace the spirit of the games.
“Every day is going to be something different,” said Joe Bocherer, the chief commercial officer for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, which will operate the fan festival. “You’re not going to want to come to this just once. You’re going to want to make it a part of your summer.”
The FIFA Fan Festival will be held in Centennial Olympic Park for 16 days, starting June 12 and concluding July 15. The Fan Festival will be a free entertainment hub near Mercedes-Benz Stadium open to all fans.
Production agencies Solomon Group and WINK are working with the Georgia World Congress Center to produce the fan festival.
The festival theme is “welcome home,” an homage to Georgia and Atlanta’s Southern hospitality, said Fan Festival producer Atilla Meijs. They plan to showcase Georgia’s culture with music, entertainers, artisans and food.
The experience should be “the next best thing to the stadium,” he said.
The festival is free to attend and open to anyone, but attendees must register ahead of time on Atlanta’s Fan Fest website starting March 26.
Centennial Olympic Park will offer four types of programming during the festival. There will be a main stage with a 40-foot screen for broadcasting World Cup matches along with live musical performances, entertainment and games. Among the other attractions are a family-oriented playground with games, face painting and other kid-friendly activations; a community soccer pitch for small matches and podcasts; and “Georgia Street,” a stretch of Georgia-based vendors that will offer food, artisans and crafts across the region.
“The whole day there’s always something to do,” Meijs said.
Applications are currently open for businesses, performers and talent who want to be involved with the Fan Festival. Meijs said they hope to showcase all that Georgia has to offer in categories like food and beverage, artisan and handcrafted goods, apparel and merchandise, cultural products, lifestyle brands and experiential concepts.
Georgia-based musicians, entertainers, performers and DJs are also encouraged to submit an application to be part of the programming.
Food vendors do have certain regulations to abide by, including no frying on site, no chain restaurants, no beverage sales and no alcohol sales, according to the website.
“This Georgia Street, we really want to make this sort of like a farmers market kind of vibe,” Meijs said.
Katie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, said she hopes residents will come to downtown to participate in the festivities even if they aren’t attending a match.
She said she was living in Atlanta during the 1996 Games, and downtown felt like a “ghost town” because all the residents were concerned about traffic impacts.
She doesn’t want that to happen this time.
“We need the daily movement of employees to keep the activation and that aliveness that we need in downtown to continue,” Kirkpatrick said. “There’s gonna be ebbs and peaks based on game days, so we still need businesses to operate as normal during those time periods so our small businesses, service workers, et cetera continue to have the experience they have every single day. Business does not stop just because World Cup is here.”
Surrounding neighborhoods will also hold their own festivals and soccer watch parties throughout the World Cup, like the Decatur WatchFest, which will feature a headliner performance from Big Boi.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, MARTA, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the city of Atlanta have all been coordinating travel logistics. GDOT plans to activate its transportation management center through the duration of the events.
“This is not just a downtown event,” said Andrew Heath, GDOT’s deputy commissioner. “We need to view this regionally.”
MARTA will run trains more frequently on match and fan festival days, operating five-minute headways from the start of service until 10:30 p.m., spokesperson Stephany Fisher said.
The transit agency says its transition to a new fare system will be in place by the FIFA games, allowing customers to tap-and-pay for their fares with phones or credit cards, something that will be familiar to many international visitors.
MARTA also plans to release limited edition Breeze cards in recognition of the games.
And new trains are on track for their debut ahead of the World Cup, Interim General Manager and CEO Jonathan Hunt told MARTA’s Board of Directors Thursday. He expects between five and seven of the new CQ400 trains to be in service during the World Cup.
At the airport, officials are working on way-finding signs to help travelers navigate and finalizing long-term projects like the south parking deck. Several MARTA stations are also getting upgrades.
About the Authors
Sara Gregory covers transportation for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Previously, she covered local government in DeKalb County. A Charlotte native, she joined the AJC in 2023 after working at newspapers in South Carolina and Virginia.
Olivia Wakim is a digital content producer on the food and dining team. She joined the AJC as an intern in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree. While in school, she reported for The Red & Black, Grady Newsource and the Marietta Daily Journal.
