PRESS RELEASE | Presentation of the Fan Zone Berlin – What awaits visitors to the UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany’s capital city?

Berlin, 21 May. It won’t be long now! In less than one month, the UEFA EURO 2024 will get underway in Germany. For a full 31 days from 14 June to 14 July, everything in Berlin will revolve around football. Aside from the matches taking place at the Olympic Stadium, the Fan Zone Berlin will be the key attraction for fans from all over the world. The overall concept and plan behind the Fan Zone Berlin was presented today by Iris Spranger, Berlin’s Senator for Sport, and Joe Chialo, Berlin’s Senator for Culture, together with Kulturprojekte Berlin CEO Moritz van Dülmen and UEFA’s Thomas Gloor. The eye-catching goal and turf installation at the Brandenburg Gate served as the backdrop for the press event.

As Kulturprojekte CEO van Dülmen noted: “Ever since the World Cup in 2006, the Fan Mile has become an institution throughout Germany. Whether loved or loathed, it is always part of Berlin. Kulturprojekte is a longstanding cultural institution in the capital, and our team wanted to come up with something special for the UEFA EURO 2024. The result of our efforts is a temporary attraction – and basically a new park at the centre of the city. By melding sport and culture, we are hoping the European football championships have a lasting impact in Berlin”.

The goal and turf installation (the goal is 63m wide, 21m high and weighs 40 tonnes, while the artificial turf spreads out over 24,000 m2 in front of it) was specially developed for the event. The 100% recyclable turf was manufactured in a CO2-reduced and climate-neutral manner and will remain in Berlin after the Euro 2024, at which point it will be distributed to football pitches, sports facilities and other sites throughout the city. Current plans include pitches in Mitte, day-care centres in Marzahn-Hellersdorf, school playgrounds in the Berlin districts of Reinickendorf and Treptow-Köpenick, sport facilities at Tegel Prison and a football pitch initiative at Berlin’s Hertha football team.

Iris Spranger, Berlin’s Senator for the Interior and Sport: “The Fan Zone at Brandenburg Gate is rapidly taking shape and raising our anticipation for the upcoming Euro 2024. Berliners have proven on many occasions that we’re capable of celebrating peacefully, safely and side-by-side. I invite everyone to join us and experience the varied programme and impressive backdrop for themselves”.

Visitors to the Fan Zone at the Brandenburg Gate will be able to watch all of the German team’s matches and all matches taking place in Berlin, including the final, quarter finals and semi finals, as well as other select matches. The site will also function intermittently as a venue for concerts and a summer cinema hosted by Knut Elstermann and guests. On 12 June, two days before the first match of the Euro 2024 in Munich, a grand opening show will take place here to mark the official launch of the Fußballkultursommer, a programme of accompanying cultural events initiated and curated by Kulturprojekte Berlin. Among the performers set to appear at the show are Luciano, Alvaro Soler, Elif and Leony. The show will get underway at 7:30pm and admission is free. The park area will be open to all Berliners and guests – even on days without any public viewing – starting at 8 am for anyone who wants to go for a jog, take a stroll or sit down and relax.

Another Fan Zone, this one located on the lawn in front of the Reichstag building, will be a festival centre open to the public on all 31 days from 2pm to midnight. All 51 matches will be shown here on the EURO Plaza and there will also be a live programme including performances, DJ sets, concerts and exhibitions. Just like in 2006, the “Home of adidas Football” event space will once again be set up here. Visitors will be invited to enjoy many other special events taking place at the Reichstag Fan Zone and throughout the city as part of the Fußballkultursommer. The programme of events focussing on football and fan culture will be offered in cooperation with several Berlin cultural institutions, including the Humboldt Forum, Berliner Festspiele, Hamburger Bahnhof, Alte Münze, Holzmarkt25, RambaZamba Theater, Literaturhaus, Ballhaus Wedding, Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

One key focus of the entire project is the theme of sustainability, which was an essential component in the overall planning and production and will extend to the visitors’ on-site experience as well. In addition to ensuring the personal safety of all visitors to the Fan Zone Berlin, some of the other unique features include the use of awareness teams, the availability of safer spaces, climate adaptation measures such as free drinking water and sunscreen dispensers, a strict re-use system to avoid waste as well as inclusive access in the form of audio descriptions and subtitles. All materials used in the Fan Zone were checked in advance to determine their level of environmental friendliness, and 80% of the materials used will be borrowed. A re-use concept will be in place for all newly purchased materials and a circular economy will be created.

The theme of sustainability is also set to run through the content of the event programme. There will be nine “theme days” curated together with partners, such as the CSD and the Brotfabrik, and offering a comprehensive, diverse and family-friendly event programme. Each event will reflect Berlin’s local cultural scene and showcase themes relating to social and ecological sustainability and inclusion. In addition, over 100 sustainability projects will form part of the FUTURE LEAGUE Berlin 2024. The Berlin Senate Department for the Interior and Sport has made available €2 million in funding for the implementation. Project sponsors involved in the FUTURE LEAGUE will organise several events at the Fan Zone Berlin and in the city’s individual districts – from tournaments on local football pitches to exhibitions and public viewings at the Poststadion’s Pride House Berlin. At the Fan Zone Reichstag, the FUTURE HUB will act as a central meeting point featuring workshops, roundtable discussion and hands-on events leading up to and after the “FUTURE Day” on 8 July.

Information on the UEFA EURO 2024 in Berlin:

Host City Berlin
http://www.euro.berlin/

Fußballkultursommer
www.fussballkultursommer.berlin

Accreditation for the Fan Zone Berlin:

Accreditation for the Fan Zone Berlin is already underway: http://www.berlin2024.eu/

For the Fan Zone Berlin and the Fußballkultursommer:

Petra Neye
E-mail: P.Neye@kulturprojekte.berlin
Tel.: +49 30 901939 526

For Berlin as an official Host City:

Marius Stegemann
E-mail: Marius.Stegemann@seninnsport.berlin.de
Tel.: +49 157 595 02 063