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When people reflect on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, one of their most cherished memories is how downtown Vancouver’s streets transformed into an electrifying village.
Downtown Vancouver was the epicentre of the Olympic experience, with its streets bustling with hundreds of thousands of pedestrians daily, temporarily rivalling the energy of alpha cities like New York, Tokyo, London, and Hong Kong.
This comes from the high concentration of events, festivals, activations, and attractions packed within and near the downtown Vancouver peninsula.
BC Place Stadium was of course the venue for not only the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, but also the nightly medal ceremonies, which had a configuration that used about half of the venue’s seating capacity.
Over the 17-day Olympic period, Rogers Arena hosted a total of 32 ice hockey games, including 28 men’s games and four women’s final games. During the 11-day men’s tournament, Rogers Arena hosted three games per day on most days, cycling up to 19,000 attendees through its doors three separate times daily.
All events held at BC Place Stadium — which had a larger capacity of over 60,000 at the time for the opening and closing ceremonies — and Rogers Arena sold out or were nearly sold out. Both venues accounted for a very substantial portion of the 1.5 million Olympic event tickets sold by VANOC.
Outside of the stadium, there were ample free activations and attractions in downtown that greatly added to the Olympic experience.
Major Olympic corporate sponsors, countries, and relevant entities also created pavilions or “houses” of their own by transforming hotel ballrooms, surface vehicle parking lots, plazas, and other under-utilized spaces in and around the downtown peninsula.
The Concord Pacific lands at Northeast False Creek were transformed into a fan zone, with major pavilions established by Molson and the provincial governments of Quebec and Saskatchewan. The nearby Science World temporarily emptied out its science exhibits to make way for a pavilion promoting the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
Robson Square was another celebration hub of its own, with the provincial government activating the space and ice rink with elaborate programming for the BC Pavilion, including an overhead zipline and a nightly pyromusical show that attracted major crowds.
Crowds on Granville Street after Canada’s Men’s Ice Hockey gold medal win during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. (Hulse & Durrell)
Crowds at Robson Square during the 2010 Olympics, featuring a repaired ice rink, a temporary zipline, the BC Pavilion, and a nightly pyromusical show. (Pace Group)
Pavilions on the Concord Pacific lands in Northeast False Creek during the 2010 Olympics. (Robert Scales/Flickr)
Even the Hudson’s Bay flagship store in downtown Vancouver was a major attraction of its own. Over 20,000 sq ft of the Seymour Street side of the department store’s main level was transformed into VANOC’s official Olympic Superstore, where fans queued up to access and buy the most comprehensive selection of official Olympic merchandise.
Just down Granville Street, the historic building home to Simon Fraser University’s Segal Graduate School of Business became the Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion. With hours-long queues to get into the building, over 100,000 people visited the pavilion to view the Olympic and Paralympic medals and other exhibits.
Queen Elizabeth Theatre’s plaza was transformed into the Aboriginal Pavilion, the previous parking lot across from Terry Fox Plaza became the Alberta Pavilion, the parking lot at the corner of Seymour and Nelson streets turned into Irish House, and the parking lot between Waterfront Station and Steamworks Pub was converted into Germany House, among other transformations.
But the largest and most elaborate of the activations were the two official Olympic festivals, which were organized by the City of Vancouver. These were Live City Yaletown, held at David Lam Park on the North False Creek waterfront, and Live City Downtown, held at the city block-sized Larwill parking lot (set to be the future new home of the Vancouver Art Gallery) next to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Both free Live City festival sites carried a combined total cost of $18 million, with the federal government funding $10 million, the City with $4 million, and corporate sponsors and other revenue sources covering $4 million.
Live City Yaletown featured major pavilions by Games sponsors Samsung, Acer, and Coca-Cola, as well as a major performance stage for concerts by a range of notable acts, live screenings of sports events, and nightly fireworks launched from a barge in False Creek. The smaller Live City Downtown site hosted the Canada Pavilion, Manitoba Pavilion, and live screenings.
Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park during the 2010 Olympics. (Alfred Shum/Flickr)
Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park during the 2010 Olympics. (Alfred Shum/Flickr)
Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park during the 2010 Olympics. (Alfred Shum/Flickr)
Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park during the 2010 Olympics. (Alfred Shum/Flickr)
Live City Downtown at Larwill Park during the 2010 Olympics. (City of Vancouver)
Now that you’ve reached this point in the article, are you feeling nostalgic enough?
The biggest sporting event to land in Vancouver since the 2010 Olympics will be the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which spans a full tournament duration of 39 days.
While Vancouver was the centre of attention for the 2010 Games, the city will be sharing the 2026 FIFA World Cup limelight with 16 host cities across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Within Canada, Vancouver is sharing that limelight with Toronto.
Vancouver’s 54,500-seat BC Place Stadium will play host to seven matches, which is tied with three other cities — Houston, Miami, and Boston — for the most number of matches. Vancouver punched well above its weight (BC Place Stadium has the fourth smallest stadium capacity of the host cities, but is larger and of a higher calibre than Toronto’s BMO Field), coming just behind the eight matches assigned to Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York City, and the nine matches to Dallas, which is the most of any host city. As well, two of the Vancouver matches are knockout rounds — the Round of 32 and Round of 16.
In contrast, Toronto has six matches, including a Round of 16 match, and Seattle similarly has six matches, but with the two knockout matches of Round of 32 and Round of 16.
All seven matches assigned to BC Place Stadium could carry a combined spectator tally of up to about 382,000 spectators (equivalent to roughly a quarter of all Olympic tickets sold), but this is before accounting for some of the seating areas set aside for media booths, sponsors, and other uses, which will likely have a noticeable impact on venue capacity.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11 in Mexico City and concludes on July 19 in New York City. While the Vancouver matches are scheduled within the window of June 13 to July 7, the soccer revelry is expected to continue locally throughout the entire tournament through Vancouver’s official FIFA Fan Festival.
Each host city is required by FIFA to stage an official FIFA Fan Festival, which is traditionally free to attend. The FIFA Fan Festival will have programming of a similar calibre to 2010’s Live City festivals. Live screenings of the tournament matches will also be key to the programming.
According to the City’s previous procurement files for an event organizer, preliminary estimates indicate an average of 15,000 people may attend the fan festival each day.
2022 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival in Doha, Qatar. (FIFA)
2014 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. (Andre Luiz Moreira/Shutterstock)
2014 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. (A.RICARDO/Shutterstock)
But there is a major caveat; unlike the Live City sites, the FIFA Fan Festival will be held well outside of the downtown Vancouver peninsula.
In June 2024, the City officially confirmed the Vancouver FIFA Fan Festival will be held at the PNE fairgrounds at Hastings Park in East Vancouver, which is a strategy that specifically takes advantage of and showcases the PNE’s new world-class amphitheatre to a global audience.
Under a landmark mass-timber roof, and with a stage and live screen backdropped by the North Shore mountains, the amphitheatre can accommodate up to 10,000 spectators.
Earlier this year, City Council approved an additional $30 million for the amphitheatre project for the specific use as a contingency fund for any unexpected higher costs related to market inflation and ensuring the project reaches completion in time for the FIFA World Cup. If the contingency is used, this brings the potential total cost of the project to up to $137.5 million, up from the previously stated figure of $107.5 million
Major construction work on the amphitheatre began earlier this year, and it is anticipated to reach completion in Spring 2026.
Artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)
Artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)
Construction progress on the new PNE amphitheatre, as of August 17, 2024. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
With an impressive brand new venue to use at the PNE, there is no question that the Vancouver FIFA Fan Festival will be a spectacular event to remember.
But there is a question of whether this location, on the geographic fringes of Vancouver, diminishes some of the potential full economic benefits from hosting the FIFA World Cup and the major investments made.
A fan festival location in downtown Vancouver might better capture the critical mass of daily attendees spilling out in the city centre’s streets — supporting shops, restaurants, services, bars, and other establishments for nearly six consecutive weeks with a consistent stream of fans, compared to hosting the event at the PNE, which likely requires a public transit trek for many visitors and is only in proximity to significantly smaller and far less high-profile commercial areas.
For the 2022 FIFA World Cup, there was just one FIFA Fan Festival site in Doha, given Qatar’s highly compact stadium venue plan. The 36-acre free Doha festival had a capacity for 40,000 people, and saw 1.8 million visitors from being open for 23 of the 29 days of the tournament duration.
For comparison, the 2024 PNE Fair over its 15-day run saw a total attendance of 637,920 or an average of about 42,500 per day.
Based on Vancouver’s preliminary estimate of an average of 15,000 daily attendees for its FIFA Fan Festival, the cumulative total attendance could theoretically reach up to over 500,000 people. This leads to the following question: Would the 500,000 people at a fan festival in downtown Vancouver generate more economic spinoffs than if it were held at the PNE?
The vibrant atmosphere of downtown Vancouver from Olympic events, festivals, and activations not only created unforgettable memories but also generated significant economic benefits, with local businesses thriving from the sustained surge in foot traffic.
If local businesses do not feel they particularly fully benefited from the FIFA World Cup — beyond the benefits of the crowds descending on downtown Vancouver for the seven matches held at BC Place Stadium — this could negatively impact public opinion and the perceived benefits and legacies of hosting the tournament.
When asked about the rationale of putting the FIFA Fan Festival at the PNE, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said there were numerous deciding factors and many different parties were involved in making the location’s recommendation to FIFA.
“I think people have to realize that you know, the City of Vancouver doesn’t work in isolation,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim in a mid-term review interview with Daily Hive Urbanized on Monday.
“We work with FIFA, we work with all of our different partners, and there’s a myriad of considerations. You have economics, safety, security, and then you have like input with the business community, residents… I wish, you know, if we had a magic wand, we’d put everything right by BC Place.”
Public safety and security considerations are likely a leading factor for putting the FIFA Fan Festival outside of downtown Vancouver. The global security climate is also currently elevated, especially compared to the lead-up to the Olympics.
Security costs for the fan festival location in the highly urbanized conditions of the city centre could potentially also be higher than the PNE’s configuration within Hastings Park.
“The great thing is we are building an incredibly beautiful world-class amphitheatre that’s coming on stream, and that’s one of the reasons why we looked at the PNE. It’s a great way to secure the area, and it actually activates, you know, another neighbourhood as well,” he continued.
Artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)
Artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)
Artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)
The municipal government’s previous comments on the staging of the NHL Vancouver Canucks’ outdoor free public viewing parties during the team’s Stanley Cup Playoffs run in Spring 2024 also provide some potential insight on the rationale.
The City-organized Canucks outdoors viewing parties were held at Oak Meadows Park next to VanDusen Botanical Garden — far from downtown, within a single-family residential neighbourhood, and a long 20-minute walk to the nearest SkyTrain station. The Oak Meadows Park viewing parties had a capacity for 2,000 people.
If the Canucks advanced to the Western Conference Final, the municipal government was fully prepared to move the City-organized outdoor viewing parties to the PNE, where the capacity would be boosted to 6,000 people. Ultimately, the Canucks did not advance, so the City missed out on the opportunity to use PNE viewing parties as an operational learning experience for the FIFA Fan Festival.
Back then, Sim suggested the municipal government is still nervous about a Canucks outdoor viewing party going out of control, following Vancouver’s history with Stanley Cup Playoffs riots.
“We have to be incredibly responsible and thoughtful. We have a history of 1994 and 2011. I would love to throw a party right now, but we have to be responsible,” said Sim at the time.
When asked by Daily Hive Urbanized during the interview on Monday, Sim further elaborated, “As a fan, I want to see the Canucks have an exciting run and make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, and hopefully win in Game 7 in overtime. As the Mayor of Vancouver, I do not want them to play a single game in the playoffs because the stress that it causes for safety.”
“We can handle it, but the costs, if they made another [Stanley Cup] run, the bill would be in the millions of dollars.”
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, bolstered by their recent success in hosting the Olympics (though the confidence was short-lived due to the 2011 Stanley Cup riot), the City hosted live outdoor screenings of the matches on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver, attracting thousands of soccer fans without incident. However, these successful screenings for South Africa’s FIFA World Cup set the stage for problematic planning when the City attempted similar events for the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Spanish fans cheer Spain’s win against the Netherlands at the City of Vancouver’s outdoor live screening of the championship final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on July 11, 2010. (Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock)
Spanish fans cheer Spain’s win against the Netherlands at the City of Vancouver’s outdoor live screening of the championship final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on July 11, 2010. (Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock)
Spanish fans cheer Spain’s win against the Netherlands at the City of Vancouver’s outdoor live screening of the championship final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on July 11, 2010. (Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock)
Sim did not specify, but the timing of the FIFA World Cup — held during Vancouver’s peak summer tourism season — could be another reason for punting the FIFA Fan Festival from downtown to the PNE. In contrast, the Winter Olympics took place during the low season for tourism.
For instance, in June and July 2026, the cruise ship season will be well underway, with daily cruise ship arrivals and with most days seeing multiple cruise ships, which add up to tens of thousands of people to the downtown Vancouver peninsula. The Canada Place cruise ship terminal has been seeing strong year-over-year growth, reaching record new passenger volumes for another consecutive year in 2024.
As a prominent host city with a well-established tourism industry and the distinction of being tied in having the fourth-largest number of FIFA World Cup matches, Vancouver is anticipating an influx of visitors.
But beyond quantitative factors, Sim is also relying on qualitative aspects — namely, the immense global passion for soccer, “the beautiful game.”
Soccer is by far the most popular and universal sport; soccer’s popularity is unrivalled — a reality that many Canadians may not fully grasp.
Vancouver’s last major direct encounter with the global passion for soccer came when it played a pivotal role in hosting the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with nine matches — including the coveted championship final — held at BC Place Stadium.
“I think when you look at the good of the whole, we’re welcoming the world. I can show you how we get to the numbers, but it’s going to be the equivalent of 30 to 40 Super Bowls. Literally, when that game is live, there are no other games evidently that are playing. So the whole world, over 200 countries, is going to be zooming into Vancouver,” said the Mayor.
Beyond the power of mass crowds to animate public spaces, downtown Vancouver — especially around BC Place Stadium — is expected to feature significant tournament-branded decorations, as mandated by FIFA. This could potentially surpass what was done to downtown for the 2010 Games, as VANOC’s recession-induced financial challenges led to drastic reductions in its “Look of the Games” budget, which resulted in over $30 million in cuts to the planned decorations.
Fox Sports’ temporary broadcast studio at Jack Poole Plaza in downtown Vancouver for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. (Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock)
The small-scale FIFA Fan Festival at Larwill Park in downtown Vancouver for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Crowds for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in downtown Vancouver. (meunierd/Shutterstock)
Crowds for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in downtown Vancouver. (Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock)
Crowds for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in downtown Vancouver. (Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock)
When asked whether he knows of any businesses, groups or organizations looking to host supplemental events, festivals, and activations in downtown Vancouver, similar to the various Olympic-time experiences, Sim only suggested that many restaurants, bars, and other businesses might be interested in putting on unofficial/unsanctioned events.
“They won’t be [officially] endorsed by FIFA World Cup 2026, but we want the whole city to step up and really into it,” Sim told Daily Hive Urbanized.
“As the City of Vancouver, we will step up and we will support this as much as possible. As the Mayor of the City of Vancouver, I’m actually asking all of the businesses and residents to show that Vancouver spirit and have a part to play to make this event awesome, because the whole world’s coming here. And, you know, we need to be ready.”
Vancouver wrapped up this past weekend by successfully hosting the CFL Grey Cup for the 17th time. This time around, organizers put a much greater emphasis on creating an enhanced Grey Cup Festival experience.
The next major event staging test will be in early December 2024, when Vancouver hosts the very high-profile final stop of Taylor Swift’s global Eras Tour. Swifties will descend on BC Place Stadium for three concert nights — Friday, December 6; Saturday, December 7; and Sunday, December 8. Just next door at Rogers Arena, the Canucks will also be playing on the evenings of December 7 and 8.
Sim says 700 additional police officers will be deployed around both stadiums and other areas of the downtown Vancouver peninsula to ensure public safety.
Olympic rings atop Grouse Mountain and in the waters of False Creek were some of the original ‘Look of the Games’ concepts envisioned for Vancouver 2010. (VANOC)
Olympic rings atop Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver’s tallest building, and branded decorations were some of the original ‘Look of the Games’ concepts envisioned for Vancouver 2010. (VANOC)
Artistic rendering of Vancouver 2010’s Look of the Games on Robson Street. (VANOC)
Artistic rendering of Vancouver 2010’s Look of the Games at the Port of Vancouver. (VANOC)
Artistic rendering of Vancouver 2010’s Look of the Games at Whistler. (VANOC)
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