Fan Fest Euro 2024 – what is it actually?
A European Championship fan festival where people don’t watch football together – how did that come about? Legend has it that the idea came from former national player Philipp Lahm, the tournament director of the 2024 European Championship. “Football and music bring people together. That’s exactly what strengthens our civil society and our democracy,” he says, “I talked about that with world-class music star and football fan Ed Sheeran at a meeting.” The European Championship city of Munich supported the idea of an open-air event, and so it is that for the first time in the city’s history, the Theresienwiese can be used for such a major cultural event, apart from the Oktoberfest, circuses, demonstrations, Tollwood Winter Festival and Christmas tree sales (after a failed attempt to have Rammstein set off fireworks there on New Year’s Eve 2022).
Two days before the opening match of the European Championship between Germany and Scotland in the Munich Arena, on Wednesday 12 June, five pop stars will be getting everyone in the mood to celebrate. The performers are: Ed Sheeran (“Shape Of You”), Grammy winner Nelly Furtado (“I’m Like A Bird”), Germany’s pop favourites Mark Forster (“Chöre”) and Tim Bendzko (“Nur noch kurz die Welt sparen”) and the English singer-songwriter Dylan, who has her sights set on the big stage: “I’m a wannabe rock star, trapped in the body of a pop star.”
What do the stars have to do with football anyway?
Pop star Ed Sheeran is often seen wearing football shirts. For him, this goes beyond the typical British soccer madness. In the 2021/2021 season, he became the shirt sponsor of the English third division club Ipswich Town, the club in his hometown, of which he had been a fan as a child. The “Tracker Boys” then played with the symbols “+-=:x” on their chests for the musician’s tour of the same name. The team, in turn, actually included Sheeran in their squad and reserved him a shirt with the number 17 – this supposedly made Ed Sheeran eligible to play in the third division as a professional footballer. According to the club’s statement, the musician felt flattered, but promised not to play: “Because I want to see us get promoted. And that won’t happen if I play!”
Tim Bendzko could have actually become a professional footballer. Before his pop career (and studying theology) he attended a sports high school and played for 1. FC Union Berlin up to the B youth team. But he always wanted to be a singer, he says, and football was about fun for him, rather than performance.
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Mark Forster is happy to admit his love for this year’s cup finalists 1. FC Kaiserslautern. And for football in general. His biggest hit “Au Revoir” is available in a World Cup version, “Wir sind groß” was the ZDF song for the 2016 European Championships. And for Euro 2024, he wrote and sang the official song of the ARD: “Wenn du mich rufst” (including alphorn blowing video)For him, it’s about optimism and solidarity, he told the German Press Agency. He firmly believes that the summer will be marked by a collective football experience. “There’s this absurd European Championship feeling that always comes up all of a sudden. With the squad nominations, things are slowly getting started, and it’s getting stronger and stronger. And two days before the first game, you’re right in the middle of it again. It’s really cool, and also that everyone feels the same way.”
Nelly Furtado has also sung an official football anthem: her song “Forca” (half in English, half in Portuguese) became the official song of Euro 2004, which took place in Portugal. “Força” means “strength” and it is about carrying on, and also about “kickin’ the backs”, especially from a feminist perspective, she said. In the video, a little boy is playing football. The Canadian-Portuguese musician sang the song at the 2004 final between Portugal and Greece.
Little is known about Dylan’s passion for soccer, but the singer did accompany a player from an English third division soccer team on tour in 2022, namely Ed Sheeran.
How does the program work?
Tim Bendzko opens the concert program at 4 p.m. He plays for half an hour. There is always a 30-minute break between the concerts. Dylan comes on stage at 5 p.m. Mark Forster sings for an hour from 6 to 7 p.m., Nelly Furtado from 7.30 to 8.30 p.m. Main act Ed Sheeran is allowed to play the longest, almost a full concert from 9.15 to 10.45 p.m.
Important for residents who are sensitive to noise (wait to call to complain!): The music program and thus also the sound system will end immediately after the finale of Ed Sheeran’s concert. More about the program can also be found fanfesteuro.de.
What is the supporting program?
Before and between the concerts there will be various programme items and activities on stage: European Championship tournament director Philipp Lahm and European Championship ambassador Célia Šašić will also have their say.
Are there still tickets available?
The Euro Fan Festival is not yet fully booked. Amazing, considering that Ed Sheeran alone sold out the Munich Olympic Stadium on three days in September 2022. Of the 90,000 tickets for the Five Stars Open Air on the Theresienwiese, some are still available, in all categories, either on muenchenticket.de or at eventim.de.
And that is also surprising, since the price starts at 69 euros, which is relatively cheap for this kind of international festival. This is exactly what the Munich city council had demanded, because it had given the organizer the Theresienwiese “relatively cheaply”. When the first prices were announced at 111 euros, the local politicians demanded a contingent of cheap tickets so that low-income people could also celebrate. The organizer FKP Scorpio followed suit and justified the new, cheaper tickets with an “expected acquisition of new sponsorship money”, which “makes it possible to further subsidize the already reduced entrance price”. In zone A in front of the stage (on the cross street to Bavaria) you now pay 111.65 euros, in middle zone B 99 euros and at the back in zone C 69 euros, each including all fees.
What is there to eat and drink?
At the Theresienwiese, where only Munich breweries are allowed to serve beer at the Oktoberfest, a brewery from Bitburg has smuggled in through the fan festival: Bitburger is the official beer sponsor of the UEFA Euro 2024. Otherwise, various non-alcoholic drinks, beers, aperitif cocktails and long drinks are on offer. There will also be free drinking water stations on site.
Guests can eat at more than 100 food and drink stands. The offerings range from cheese spaetzle and pulled pork burgers to pizza and pasta, falafel and spring rolls, and there are also sweet treats such as crêpes or chocolate-covered fruits – classic festival fare. The organizer says it is important to also offer vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes.
The food stands are open until midnight after the concerts.
getting there
The organizer and the city expressly recommend traveling by public transport. The journey with the Munich transport network (zones M-6) is included in the ticket price until 6 a.m. the following day. The nearest subway stations are Theresienwiese (U4 and U5, directly at the festival north entrance) and Goetheplatz (U3 and U6). Those arriving by S-Bahn or long-distance bus (at the central bus station) have about 15 minutes on foot from Hackerbrücke and about 20 minutes from the main train station.
Of course, cycling is also environmentally and traffic-wise unproblematic. However, bicycles and e-scooters may only be parked in designated areas. Walkways and escape routes must be kept clear. There is a bicycle parking area on the southern Theresienwiese.
The organizer says there are no event-specific guest parking spaces available on site. Those arriving by car must use public parking garages and parking spaces in the area, where there is likely to be very little space. For people with disabilities, there are parking spaces in the southern area of Theresienwiese (access via Hans-Fischer-Straße. Please have your official disabled parking permit ready).
Further information on how to get there can be found here: fanfesteuro.de/de/info/anreise