The FIFA Fan Fest in Kazan will begin on June 14
The FIFA Fan Fest is to be the only officially affiliated match streaming platform at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Speakers at the press conference that took place on May 23 at the Tatmedia print and mass communications agency explained how Kazan would handle the festival organisation. These included: Leila Fazleeva, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, and Damir Fattakhov, First Deputy Director of the Executive Committee.
The FIFA Fan Fest in Kazan will begin on the same day as the Cup (on June 14) and end with the finals (on July 15). It will be unavailable for 6 break days (June 29 and July 5, 8, 9, 12, and 13, 2018). The venue will be capable of accommodating 25 thousand people at a time.
It will offer live streams of World Cup matches. The opening match between the national teams of Russia and Saudi Arabia will be streamed at 6:00 p.m. on June 14.
"The Fan Fest will be freely accessible on match days, no tickets or Fan ID needed," Leila Fazleeva explained.
The Fest will also feature a store with official World Cup merchandise, as well as the pavilions of FIFA sponsors and partners. National souvenirs will also be available for purchase.
The FIFA Fan Fest™ venue activity areas will be geared towards both young and adult fans, who will be able to run a junior obstacle course, play a match on a mini football pitch, and attend football freestyle workshops.
Meals will be served at the venue’s main restaurant. Apart from grabbing some typical football fast food (a sandwich, hot dog, French tries, pizza, chips, and a wealth of other snacks), the fans will also be able to enjoy a more substantial lunch or dinner. They will be treated to traditional Tatar dishes like chackchak (sweet dessert), echpochmak (triangular pastry with meat and potato), gubadiya (wedding pie with meat, rice, eggs, raisins and dry white cheese), and baursak (sweet fried puffy bread). "Our main restaurant’s menu has been tailored towards diverse age cohorts, taste preferences, and religions, and includes both international cuisine and local dishes from the cultures of peoples living in the Republic of Tatarstan. Halal and vegetarian dishes will also be represented," said Leila Fazleeva.
To help with hosting the event, Kazan has recruited 220 volunteers from the City Volunteers programme. They will be providing assistance in 10 functional areas: volunteer management, accreditation, TV and media services, healthcare services, food and beverages, visitor services, Fest management, protocol, etc.
Each day when the Fan Fest is open will have its own individual theme. On the opening day, there will be a theatrical performance, titled ‘Welcome to Kazan! Welcome to Russia!’ and dedicated to the history and traditions of Kazan, Tatarstan, and Russia, as well as to the country’s sports heritage. Some of the best troupes from Kazan and the whole Republic will make an appearance on-stage.
The performance is to feature the State Song and Dance Ensemble of the Republic of Tatarstan; the State Chamber Choir of the Republic of Tatarstan; the Kazan Dance Ensemble; the Drum Time drum show and Mitya Burmistrov, World Beatboxing Champion; the Action Man Crew break-dance team; the King Step dance studio; and such singers as Alina Sharipzhanova, Matvey Kozin, Maria Semyonova, and others.
On June 16, Kazan will host its first match, between France and Australia. The Fan Fest will be happy to welcome any guests and fans of the teams playing in Kazan with a national concert programme under the ‘We Are the Children of One Earth’ motto.
The programme for June 23 will be focusing on traditional ethnic music. On June 25, the FIFA Fan Fest will host the Neighbourhood Football Day. The guest stars appearing before the Fest’s audiences are expected to include participants of the Yoldyzlyk Constellation Television Festival and students of Igor Krutoy’s Povolzhye Pop Music Academy and the F-TEAM Dance Academy.
June 27 and 28 will see performances by popular rock bands: Ravnovesiye, Luna, Bolshoy Kush, Dom Kukol, Progulschiki, and many more. An appearance by Juke Box Trio, a popular band from Kazan, is also scheduled.
Some other concert contributors on the various days of the Fan Fest will also include Igor Butman’s jazz quartet feat. Oleg Akkuratov (Moscow), Vadim Eilenkrig’s quartet (Moscow), Aleksey Kozlov and the Arsenal band, Billie Novik & Band (St. Petersburg), E-Quality Quartet & Gregory Rivkin (Russia, Israel), and Artem Ayvazyan Band (Moscow).
On July 15, the last day of the World Cup, the Fan Fest will officially come to a close. The guests will be seen off by the ALMA and Guru Groove Foundation bands.
"All preparations for the Fan Fest are going on as planned. As of today, we are assembling the main metal structure for the temporary infrastructure," Damir Fattakhov informed. According to him, Kazan’s venue will have a very unique feature: a second screen for additional streaming and distributing the audience traffic.
Along with the venue, we are also doing some large-scale work to improve the infrastructure of the adjacent pedestrian path from the Kozya Sloboda metro station to the Kazan Family Centre.
"Despite the weather, we have already completed the project by 60%’. We have paved a special pedestrian path, which we call the promenade, and expanded it twofold in time for the World Cup," shared Damir Fattakhov.
He has also revealed at, concurrently with building the promenade, the team is also working on a new road along the Bondarenko Street, going from Soldatskaya Street to Khakima Street. "At the end of construction, the Bondarenko Street will cover an area of a little more than 5,000 square metres and will have four traffic lanes, two in each direction, with sidewalks. We are planning to finish during the first decade of June. Both the promenade and this road are major parts of lasting infrastructure that will stay on for the people of our city to use after the World Cup," he pointed out.