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B.C. Place general manager Chris May says final touches are being completed on stadium upgrades and renovations, and that the project remains on time and on budget. 

Crews began installing the pitch last week, and the grass will be fully laid by this time next week. 

He says the event will have a footprint beyond B.C. Place itself, including Terry Fox Plaza, Pacific Boulevard, the Plaza of Nations and Concord Pacific lands. 

People who live and work in the area should be aware some routes around the stadium won’t be accessible once the footprint is in effect, he says. 

You might recall that several venues are adopting special names for the tournament in accordance with FIFA sponsorship rules, so B.C. Place will become B.C. Place Vancouver. 

Soccer fans in Vancouver are expected to flock to Hastings Park for live music, food and entertainment from June 11 to July 19 as part of the official FIFA Fan Festival.

"It's going to be the ultimate destination for all things FIFA World Cup," said host committee lead for FIFA World Cup Vancouver Jessie Adcock.

FIFA says there will be "interactive fan activations and immersive on-site experiences" as well as live soccer match broadcasts on large screens throughout the site.

"Our screens will be broadcasting over 100 hours of World Cup matches," Adcock said.

Musicians will perform at a new 10,000-seat amphitheatre, which the PNE has called the largest free-span timber roof structure in the world.

The festival will be free to enter, including general admission to the amphitheatre floor for watching matches, though paid ticket options are also available for covered reserved seats at headline concerts. 

“We are 35 days out from the biggest sporting event in the world,” says Jessie Adcock, Vancouver host committee lead.

Adcock says B.C. Place is expected to host some 350,000 spectators over the course of the city’s seven World Cup matches, while the FIFA Fan Fest in East Vancouver is expected to see 25,000 visitors. 

"Match days are for everyone," says Taunya Geelhoed, FIFA World Cup's Vancouver chief operations officer.

She outlined various options for bike concierges at certain SkyTrain stations.

Pacific Boulevard will be closed to traffic as of May 23, Geelhoed said.

FIFA-branded wayfinding will help visitors get to where they need to go.

Downtown streets will be "vibrant and exciting" — but there will be some temporary closures around the stadium on match days.

Today’s briefing got underway with Musqueam Coun. Morgan Guerin offering words of welcome.

"In our culture we could call it ceremony, we’ve got guests coming, let's get the house ready," he said.

Guerin said the three Indigenous host nations — the Musqueam, the Squamish and the Tsleil-Waututh — are excited to have the world come to the region.

Hi, I'm Jon Hernandez and I've just arrived at the 29th Avenue SkyTrain station in Vancouver to attend FIFA's Know Before You Go press conference.

We're waiting to hear from FIFA's host committee lead and officials from the Vancouver Police Department and TransLink. We're expecting updates on public transit and security during the games.

There's even a TransLink bus with a soccer ball mounted to the front of it to add to the atmosphere.

Basically, don't drive downtown on the following days:

Another great reason not to take the car downtown during the World Cup (as if you needed another) is the number of road closures set to be enforced around B.C. Place. 

These will begin with the closure of a stretch of Pacific Boulevard between Carrall Street and the Cambie Street Bridge starting May 23. 

Further closures outlined in the map above, blocking off access to a large area around north and east False Creek, will come into effect on the seven match days. Two stations on the SkyTrain network will also be closed on match days.

Residents and businesses in the affected areas have been told they will receive local access passes. FIFA is hosting community sessions on May 7 and 11 for those affected.

Also, for the duration of the World Cup, a stretch of Granville Street will be pedestrianized and feature expanded patios, art installations, live music and family-friendly activities, according to the City of Vancouver.

We've been told we're going to hear more about the Vancouver host committee's "Know Before You Go" campaign, though there's already a basic page for that on the official host site. 

The gist is, if you want to get anywhere on game day, take transit, walk, bike or hop on whatever your flavour of electric wheeled device is. 

If you take transit, prepare for it to be busy and give yourself extra time for your journey. TransLink says it's boosting service, but with the city expecting to welcome more than 350,000 visitors across the seven match days, it's going to be packed.

All the same, Vancouver is blessed among host cities in that its host stadium is downtown and a short walk from the rapid mass transit SkyTrain network, so you'd be silly not to make the most of that. (And you'd be remiss not to be smug that you aren't being gouged $150 US for a train ticket to a suburban host stadium.)

Fittingly, today's event is being held at a SkyTrain station. Though, oddly, it's at one of the quietest stops on the network, 29th Street, in the city's residential southeast.

Ready for the World Cup? It’s just over a month until the first game of the continent-straddling soccer tournament kicks off on June 11, and only 38 days until Vancouver hosts its first game of seven at B.C. Place.

Media in Vancouver are today being invited to hear from a range of officials about how all the prep is going for the city's role in the sporting spectacle, and how fans and residents can prepare themselves. 

Those official voices include the Vancouver Police Department's deputy chief, the CEO of TransLink and members of FIFA's World Cup 2026 Vancouver team. The briefing is set to begin at 10:45 a.m. PT. You can watch the livestream above.

Vancouver is one of 16 host cities for the 2026 tournament, which is being co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

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