Market Square to anchor Victoria’s 6

Market Square to anchor Victoria’s 6-week World Cup festival

Published 11:45 am Friday, May 29, 2026

Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto and DVBA CEO Jeff Bray hold a giant soccer ball during the Summer of Soccer announcement at Market Square on Friday, May 29. (Tony Trozzo/Victoria News)

Jeff Bray remembers the agonizing hopes of Canadian soccer fans in 1986, just praying for a single goal.

Now, with Canada holding a real shot at advancing through group play this summer, the Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA) is helping turn the city core into one of the region’s main gathering spots for the FIFA World Cup.

Bray and the DVBA, along with the City of Victoria, are launching Summer of Soccer, a six-week festival running alongside the 2026 FIFA World Cup from June 11 to July 19.

The DVBA will be contributing more than $100,000 towards the event, but official costs are not yet finalized.

The City of Victoria is providing a total of $87,500, which is a combination of cash $35,000 and in-kind, which includes labour, equipment, facility use, VicPD, street cleaning, and communications support. The city is also providing DVBA $15,000 of support via a provincial grant.

The initiative will feature a live viewing site at Market Square, free street activations and more than 10 local bars and restaurants broadcasting the games.

The centrepiece of the initiative will be Market Square, where organizers plan to host up to 13 public viewing days featuring a 20-by-12-foot screen, music, entertainment, concession service and community watch parties.

“We want people to say, you know what, the energy, the vibe is great downtown,” said Bray. “Let’s go to Market Square or any of the great businesses and really have a great afternoon or evening watching international soccer.”

Bray said the festival is designed as both a community celebration and an economic boost for local businesses heading into the busy summer season.

“This is about supporting our businesses, bringing people down who are going to participate both in the community, but also economically,” he said.

“Somebody that comes downtown and goes, ‘holy cow, look at all these great businesses.’ You really cannot buy that kind of marketing.”

Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto says it will allow residents to gather outdoors and experience the atmosphere surrounding one of the world’s biggest sporting events.

“It really does provide incredible opportunities for our own residents to participate and have a great chance, as Jeff has said, for free in various different places at different times,” Alto said during the joint announcement at Market Square.

The opening weekend includes activations along the Government Street pedestrian zone and at Ship Point, timed to coincide with Canada’s opening match, on June 12.

Planned activities include live music, DJs, soccer drills, face painting, lawn games, Pacific FC activations and food trucks. A separate Franco Fun Fan Zone is also scheduled for June 13 at Bastion Square.

Victoria got an early glimpse of World Cup fever during the Canada Celebrates event held March 31 at the B.C. legislature, where hundreds gathered to watch matches on a large outdoor screen.

While that event was organized separately and is not connected to Summer of Soccer, Bray said it demonstrated the appetite for major soccer events in the capital region.

“This is a great sports community. This is a great soccer community,” he said. “That extra energy that you get by being with other people who are sharing the experience, one way or the other, is really what this is about.”

Victoria was one of 32 B.C. communities to receive provincial funding through the Community Event Support Fund connected to the World Cup, securing $35,000 toward local celebrations.

For more information on the event, visit Downtown.Victoria.ca/Summer-of-Soccer.

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