If you are travelling to watch some of your favourite matches at the FIFA World Cup, make sure to catch up on these unique activities to soak up the celebratory atmosphere in the United States. Across host cities, fan zones, cultural showcases and immersive exhibitions are sure to deliver an experience that goes far beyond the stadium. Think live music, food, art, and football-themed festivities that turn entire cities into playgrounds.
Atlanta, Georgia: Where Culture Meets the Kick-Off
If you are in Atlanta anytime between June 14 and July 14, visit the Centennial Olympic Park, where live screenings, music and fan games create a carnival-like atmosphere. The ATL Cultural Exchange at the former CNN Center offers a vibrant mix of performances, film screenings and workshops over a month-long period. Meanwhile, at Emory University’s multi-venue Footwork exhibitions, you can explore rich football history through culture, community and even healing arts.
Dallas, Texas: Science, Sport and Spectacle
If you plan to catch one of the nine FIFA World Cup matches in Dallas, head to the FIFA Fan Festival at Dallas Fair Park, which anchors the action with free live match screenings and concerts. For a deeper dive, the Perot Museum’s Soccer: More Than a Game unpacks the science behind football—from physics to biomechanics. History buffs can head to the George W. Bush Presidential Museum’s Game Changer: United by Sports to see the memorabilia from FC Dallas, Trinity FC, and the National Soccer Hall of Fame, while nearby Arlington’s Museum of Art explores fan culture via four exhilarating exhibitions and immersive installations, historic maps, and more. It’s a heady mix of sport, intellect and celebration.
Kansas City, Missouri: Community at the Core
Kansas City turns its National WWI Museum and Memorial into a lively fan hub, complete with concerts and live screenings. Inside, The Beautiful Game exhibition, traces football’s unexpected ties to World War I. Across the city, sport meets storytelling—from the Truman Library’s United We Play exhibition showcasing the power of sports to inspire and unite us to the Nelson-Atkins Museum’s showcase of the work of six local artist-athletes. Riverfront watch parties at Current Landing and live gigs at Sporting Park add a festive, family-friendly vibe with a touch of gastronomic fare.
New York/New Jersey: The Grand Finale Energy
With the final set to take place here, New York and New Jersey pull out all the stops. Free fan events across boroughs blend match screenings with food and cultural performances. Art and sport intersect at exhibitions like “Peace Post” at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine and “For the Win” at the American Museum of Natural History. At Lincoln Center, the “Summer for the City” series transforms into a football celebration with DJ nights, film screenings and freestyle performances.
From coast to coast, the World Cup in the U.S. is as much about the journey as the game—an invitation to celebrate football through culture, creativity and community.
