The FIFA World Cup Fan Festival is officially here — and entry is free.
Hundreds of fans poured into Fair Park Thursday afternoon to watch team Mexico defeat South Africa 2-0.
People gathered on the Dos Equis Pavillion lawn where giant screens played the game. Cheers and boos boomed throughout the park anytime a player was close to scoring — especially crowd favorite Mexico.
Anna Rosti and her partner Andrew Morris flew from Australia to watch the England vs Croatia match on June 17, but they were there at the fan festival to cheer on Mexico.
Morris, who brought along his two kids, said the trip was about more than soccer.
"We're going to do a lot of like museums, traveling about, seeing the sites and getting to know different cultures and different foods," he said.
Karen Hernandez, a Texas local, came to the game with her two daughters to watch team Mexico and said getting to the fan festival was a smooth process. She said she didn't have tickets to a match.
"I heard they were pretty pricey, so we didn't even try," she said. "And we heard that this was free, so it was very flexible."
Her family, like many others, was adorned in traditional Mexican hair braids and ribboning.
Fans gathered under large shade tents to get out of the heat. Temperatures were in the 90s and only an occasional breeze graced attendees.
Prices were steep all around. A bottle of Coke was about $7.50, a slice of cheese pizza was $10 and funnel cake was $12.
The gift shop sold team jerseys, T-shirts, scarves and a Lego set of the World Cup trophy. A jersey for team Mexico was $130.
At least one fan, Sofia Correa, told KERA outside the festival she isn't worried about the prices.
"I'm meeting my boyfriend in there — he's my wallet,” she joked.
The fan festival will run until July 19.
Dylan Duke is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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