SoCal World Cup Summer kicks off, after the break!

FIFA Fan Festival 2026 - Sunday featuring Sickick & Normani @ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (06/14/2026)

Greetings!

Our busy summer sessions roll on with a really special adventure...

Right now, as you probably know, the city is hosting a portion of the 2026 World Cup at Los Angeles Stadium. Which means... World Cup Fan Fests & Events continue to pop up around the Valley, all the way to the 3rd Street Promenade! I knew when the time arrived, we would be visiting the all biggest experiences despite being a casual Football fan. I don't know if it's the spectacle, summertime boredom, or American pride but I've tried to not miss a game. Nor did we want to skip out on any meaningful LA events.

(Team Japan all the way!)

Something like The World Cup or Olympics only falls into your lap once... maybe twice?... in a lifetime. Best to grab hold of everything being presented and just be present. Or in better terms: buy. all. the. merch! Did I add more pins & magnets to my huge collection last week? You better believe it! Always pray for our bank accounts.

Even though we normally adventure "budget friendly". Sunday General tickets to this FIFA Fan Festival 2026 at the LA Memorial Coliseum only costed $10 at the time. The $30 Parking hit my pocket book more than anything and even that wasn't too terrible. Especially when I remember paying $100 for parking a LA Rams game or the normal $50 at FYF Fest in the same area decades before. It hurt to discover my favorite Parking Lot across from the Coliseum is now apartment buildings.

(ugh)

All the photos below chronicle our steps & sights around the FIFA World Cup Fan Fest. The football game viewing party & concerts were held on the field surrounded by sponsored booths. There wasn't much shade, so I'm glad I lathered up on suntan lotion before leaving the house. Everyone else appeared to be hunting for shade anywhere they could. At least they looked cool. I tried to immortalize their clever outfits with my aging Samsung Galaxy S23FE.

Both Sickick & Normani put on solid performances. I didn't like that he (the former) focused on 2010 pop hits over newer mixes, but I'm no DJ. I'm sure they play well with all audiences. He did sing some original songs which broke up the expected vibes. Nice to know he wasn't auto-piloting the experience.

Nether did Normani who really didn't hold back either. She brought her hits, four dancers, and some hard-hitting choreography for a quick 30-minute set. The group set the pace with "Motivation", then slowly cooling down the vibes finishing her two radio heavy R&B collaborations. Singing "Happy Birthday" to her dancer Jasmine (hoping I spelled that right) was a really nice way to cap off the event.

Pity few of the FIFA Fans didn't give them any respect at first. One international fan kept trying to whistle while holding up a red card as they flowed through "Motivation". Look, if the music isn't your vibe... just walk away. Always be respectful. There's always traffic to escape from.

Happy everything ran on-time with the only small inconvenience was standing in line for a free World Cup bracelet for an hour at the Bank of America booth. The vendors warned us that they were running low and some of us might not be receiving one... despite standing in this unnecessarily slow moving line. We didn't give up hope & claimed one of the last Team Canada bracelets. However, that wasn't end of our hunt. More on that... in the bonus section below!

But yeah... LA will be a busy spot until Summer 2028 (at the earliest). So expect much more Local Tourist blurbs like this from us. We get to do this all again for the Women's World Cup next year.

Enjoy the photo slideshow and BE SURE to check out our World Cup Game Bonus Event after!

Photos:

Fooseball Bobby???

Dope AoT shirt!

We love this city!

Is that my car???

Bonus!

FIFA 2026 World Cup Match: IR Iran vs. New Zealand @ Los Angeles (aka SoFi) Stadium (06/15/2026)

You didn't think we'd miss an actually World Cup game, did you? Quite the epic way to experience our first Football game... ever!

I still haven't had a chance to visit a LAFC or Angel City club game. And the LA Galaxy were always so far away back in the day. Therefore, being able to see a World Cup match live knocked off my life-long event achievement. All that remains is the Super Bowl, Final Four, & Olympics.

We didn't care whom we saw. Just wanted to be in the arena, you know? Luckily, IR Iran vs. New Zealand was the cheapest World Cup ticket at the time (probably due to the lively & evolving World Events occurring all the time). Thus, made our way down to Inglewood... which is always up to no good... for a fun evening of Football!

It didn't take us very long to arrive at the busy Hollywood Park area. Traffic was decent. The area wasn't so built up when we visited for WrestleMania in 2023. Now evenings can be a bit messy. We're glad we missed the heavy flow.

We beelined straight for one of the new attractions in the area... the newly opened Raising Cane's, a block away from the Intuit Dome. We just got one at Universal City Walk, but this spot's food tasted way better. The site does have a walk up window as the building has been accommodating large trendy / demanding crowds at the moment. Luckily the restaurant staff were amazingly fast! I don't know if I'm a full Raising Cane's fan just yet. Still prefer Popeyes or KFC. We'll see if I get a craving down the road.

Not many steps were between us and the stadium once we cut through the restaurant's parking lot into the heart of Hollywood Park. We could see the protests, interview crews, and colorful characters as walked towards Security. I'm no stranger to those scenes. So we just kept walking.

Eventually we found ourselves at Los Angeles' own FIFA Fan Fest that somewhat mirrored the commercial attractions that the Coliseum had. Including a big Bank of America booth.

Don't worry... our story had a happy ending as we stopped back after the game to claim the remaining World Cup bracelets that eluded us a day before!

We hit the merchandise store the second we arrived in the Stadium. The long was pretty long, but it moved quite fast. You can see all the stuff they had below. I picked up the pins, a shirt, towel, and a magnet. Really happy with my haul. Now I'm trying to make room for everything. The endless battle.

Because we ate earlier, we didn't have to worry about food or drinks and just enjoyed the Football spectacle from our seats. Both teams fought hard scoring two goals a piece. Sure no one wants the game to end in a draw, but you could tell how much love the fans had for their countries regardless. The energy they exuded throughout the 100 minutes remains infectious. Happy we got to be in the arena.

And that's our World Cup recap! Perfect way to kick-off these Summer '26 Sessions. More words, photos, & adventures dropping soon! Enjoy my candid captures...