L.A. Plans Soccer Festival as a World Cup Warm-Up
Not everyone can get tickets to the most popular sporting event on Earth, but World Cup USA 1994 officials announced Monday that they are planning a big party to celebrate soccer--and all of Los Angeles is invited.
The monthlong World Festival, which wil begin in June and culminate with the World Cup final July 17, will seek to give Angelenos of all ages a taste of the international passion for soccer by bringing a variety of musical, culinary and artistic events to Exposition Park.
Organizers said the highlight of the festival will be its last 10 days, when a 500,000-square-foot interactive theme park called SoccerFest will open its doors. There, visitors will have a chance to collect autographs, pose for photos, become play-by-play announcers of great moments in soccer history--even step into the shoes of world-famous players.
At a news conference under the Olympic Rings at the peristyle end of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Mayor Richard Riordan praised the festival as a “family event” that will be accessible to people of all incomes and cultures. Officials said admission to SoccerFest will be about $10. By contrast, tickets to the 52 World Cup games--eight of which, including the final, will be played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena--cost from $25 to $475 apiece.
Angelenos will also stand to benefit from what Alan I. Rothenberg, chairman of World Cup USA 1994, called his group’s determination “to leave a legacy for the sport.” At least two new soccer fields will be built for the festival--fields that are expected to remain in use long after the World Cup is over. And Rothenberg said that if SoccerFest raises more than the $7 million it is expected to cost, that surplus will be funneled back into the community.
“This is a rare chance for our city to shine,” he said. “We want people to have a World Cup experience.”
In contrast to the Olympic Arts Festival, which imported performers from around the world to coincide with the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, Rothenberg said the World Festival will draw largely upon the local arts and cultural communities. Promotional materials are already promising “a mosaic of live international entertainment,” but Rothenberg was not ready to name names.
“Rock stars won’t commit that far in advance. And the Iglesiases and Pavarottis and Domingos are waiting to see where their teams are playing,” he said. Twenty-four teams from around the world, including the United States, will compete for the World Cup in nine cities. Teams will not learn where they are playing until December.
Los Angeles will not be the only city to enjoy SoccerFest. Officials said they plan to do the same thing in either Chicago or the New York-New Jersey area. And to make sure they pull it off, they have hired executive producer Tom Eastman, who created a similar theme park for major league baseball.
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More than 20 SoccerFest pavilions will house soccer clinics and demonstrations, World Cup film screenings and historical displays. There will be a mock locker room filled with photos and memorabilia. There will be a mini-factory where visitors will see soccer balls being stitched by hand. There are plans for a simulated Wembley Tunnel, designed to let mere mortals imagine what it would be like to be heading onto the field to play at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Officials said they expect more than 150,000 people to attend Los Angeles’ SoccerFest during its brief run. The event is co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.
“What really will come from this when it’s all over is a wonderful place for kids to play soccer,” said Sheldon Sloan, a member of the board of directors of the California Museum of Science and Industry, also located in Exposition Park. “Come out here any weekend, and that’s what you’ll see: soccer games.”
