Andrés Labán Keeps Guadalajara Fan Fest Open for 39 Days
Guadalajara will keep its FIFA Fan Festival open for all 39 days of the 2026 World Cup, running daily from June 11 to July 19 at Plaza Liberación. The decision runs against the shorter, fragmented plans adopted in several U.S. host cities, and it puts the city center at the middle of one of the tournament’s biggest public gatherings.
Andrés Labán Sets the Plan
Andrés Labán, the festival’s director, said Guadalajara’s government, the state government and Zapopan wanted to make the event a public priority and keep the Centro Histórico active every day. He described that as the guiding choice behind leaving the festival open throughout the tournament rather than trimming it back.
Labán said daily programming at Plaza Liberación will include transmissions, cultural activities and food offerings, with room for up to 18,000 people at the same time. On days with four matches, he said the site could draw 18,000 to 20,000 people up to three times during the day.
Plaza Liberación and the Centro Histórico
The festival’s payoff is expected to come less from the event itself than from what it drives around it. Labán said the main gains would be in spending at downtown businesses and hotels, along with the visibility created for the city center. He added: “Realmente donde se le gana es en la derrama que tienen los comercios, la derrama que tienen los hoteles y la visibilidad que tiene el centro”
He also said the event is financed through a mix of public and private resources. “Es una mezcla público, privado. FIFA al final tiene patrocinadores, hay un tema operativo que sí se paga, pero también hay fondos públicos y privados, es una mezcla un poco de todo” he said.
Costs, Disruption and Choice
The Guadalajara decision stands out because other host cities in the United States reduced, fragmented or replanned their own FIFA Fan Festivals as operating costs climbed. Some reports put a large-scale Fan Festival at close to one million dollars per day, a scale that helps explain why so many cities pulled back while Guadalajara stayed with the full schedule.
That choice has not been free of friction. During a visit to the area, merchants and workers near the site described temporary disruptions tied to the construction and installation. A bolero with more than three decades in the Centro Histórico said several coworkers were relocated because of the screens and event spaces, and a tour guide said pedestrian restrictions cut his client base considerably. For Guadalajara, the test is whether the daily crowd keeps the center active without squeezing out the people who work there now.
