Fans having a ball in Berlin

GELSENKIRCHEN:

In Berlin the Fan Fest at Brandenburg Gate is the place to be if you don’t have tickets to the Olympic Stadium. Fan Mile is lined with beer stalls, snack joints and big screens. It has been attracting fans from different parts of the world, including of course Germany.

Fan mile stretches for two kilometres in Germany’s capital and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival, which began on 7 th June, will be on till 9th July. It is being held on the Strasse des 17 Juni (17 June Street), between the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column. Hundreds of thousands of fans gather here right in the heart of the city, surrounded by famous monuments, and are watching matches live on giant screens. Apart from the Fan Mile there is also a “Fan mile ribbon”, stretching from the Reichstag (parliament building) to the city centre. Fans have been thronging the adidas Arena, a version of the Olympiastadion, which has been constructed at Spreebogen Park in front of the Reichstag building.

The Fan Festival gets underway every day at 11am, when the previous day’s games are analysed. At around 3 pm, it’s down to business as the action starts on the field. After the final whistle has blown on the evening’s last match at around 11pm, the party really begins. The whole two-kilometre stretch has been line up with 3 massive screens where the fans watch the match and dotted with countless number of restaurants, game parlours and dance floors.

There will be no letup in the festivities on the six non-match days according to the organisers. The Fan Festival will be hosting classical music concert organised by the German Football Federation’s (DFB) cultural foundation on 2 nd of July, featuring the German Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ingo Metzmacher. For those who like to play sport as well as watching it, the Berlin Fan Festival also has a lot to offer, namely fields for football and beach volleyball, an enormous goal wall target and much more, all along 17 June Street. The one thing fan Fest does not have is shade, and in the summer heat, the combination of beer and sun can make even the most rabid fan wilt. But then there is no stopping the diehard party animals and soccer fans, who have turned out in large numbers and are having a ball.