The City of Vancouver says that the new amphitheatre at Hastings Park will be inaugurated with the FIFA Fan Festival that will take place on the PNE grounds inside the park.
Municipal and provincial officials announced that the amphitheatre will serve as an “enhanced experience” that 10,000 people can access to watch live coverage of the soccer matches.
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Most of those seats will be available for purchase, while a few remain free to access.
The rest of the festival site, which can host up to 25,000 visitors in total, can be accessed for free.
“Within the amphitheatre, there are 10,000 seats, and among the 10,000, 2,600 will be free. So more than one quarter of the amphitheatre will be free to people participating,” Anne Kang, B.C.’s Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport, said.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Kang and Mayor Ken Sim said that the festival will be the biggest watch party in the Lower Mainland during the FIFA World Cup.
“The brand-new amphitheatre at the PNE is an incredible new space for Vancouver, a place that will host music and culture and community celebrations for many years to come, and the FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver will be among the very first experiences that it hosts,” Kand added.
According to a press release, the ticketed area will provide guaranteed seating in the amphitheatre and access to the festival site, larger screens to watch the matches, and live music performances.
The free-access areas will also show live coverage of the matches without guaranteed entrance in the case that the PNE grounds have reached maximum capacity.
“The FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver is free. The amphitheatre is an enhanced experience. So, when you think about the amphitheatre, perhaps think about places like BC Place or the Pacific Coliseum,” Kang explained.
The new amphitheatre has been under construction since 2024.
The construction cost was increased multiple times, most recently in November 2025, and is now estimated at $183 million, three times what the original proposal said.
“The PNE Amphitheatre project is currently on schedule for completion in Spring 2026, in time for the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026,” the City of Vancouver said in a written statement to 1130 NewsRadio.
Minister Kang hopes that making the majority of the festival site free will benefit the province in the long run.
“This celebration of sport and culture is part of the momentum that will carry on well beyond the World Cup, strengthening our tourism sector and inspiring communities for years to come.”
“We are ready to put our best foot forward to proudly showcase local First Nations, Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada on a global stage,” Sim added.
Organizers say that more details and ticket prices will be made available closer to June 11.
