Windsor is going to be part of the celebration around the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
FIFA has announced the route for Canada Celebrates the FIFA World Cup, a program designed to unite communities beyond the host cities of Toronto and Vancouver.
CEO of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island Gordon Orr says they're excited to host one of the stops.
"We pitched our idea, and we pitched a concept. We had the money to do it, and we're going to be one of 34 stops building up to the excitement and into the excitement of the World Cup," he says.
Orr says the event will have an activation event downtown with music and food.
"There will be a viewing party on Wednesday, July 15. It will be in City Hall Square and into Charles Clark Square, and it's going to be a day of bring the family, bring the fun. There will be some swag there and some of our cultural attractions there," he says.
The overall celebration will run throughout the tournament from June 11 to July 19, going through 38 stops across 34 communities.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be the biggest sporting event ever, with Canada hosting alongside Mexico and the United States across 16 host cities, with 48 teams and 104 matches.
Orr says the Windsor stop will take place around the semi-final games.
"Arguably this is the biggest sporting event in the world, and of course, Canada, the U.S., and Mexico are all involved. This is a global audience, and we're celebrating it too. We're a piece of that, only 34 stops over 38 days in the coast-to-coast celebration, and we're part of it," he says.
Full details of the Windsor event can be found at visitwindsoressex.com/canadacelebrates and will be updated often.
Canada Celebrates Community Stops
East Coast
- 1 June - Mount Pearl, Newfoundland
- 11 + 12 June - Halifax, Nova Scotia
- 15 June - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- 18 June - Moncton, New Brunswick
- 21 June - Quebec City, Quebec
- 27 June - Kingston, Ontario
- 1 July - Mississauga, Ontario
- 4 July - London, Ontario
- 7 July - Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation
- 9 July - Burlington, Ontario
- 11 July- Waterloo Region, Ontario
- 15 July - Windsor, Ontario
- 18 + 19 July - Niagara Falls, Ontario
West Coast
- 5 June - Whitehorse, Yukon
- 11 + 12 June - Fort St. John, British Columbia
- 18 June - Kamloops, British Columbia
- 20 June - Salmon Arm, British Columbia
- 22 June - Revelstoke, British Columbia
- 24 June - Nelson, British Columbia
- 27 June - Cranbrook, British Columbia
- 1 July - Edmonton, British Columbia
- 4 July - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- 7 July - Kenora, Ontario
- 11 July - North Bay, Ontario
- 15 July - Vaughan, Ontario
- 18 + 19 July - Brampton, Ontario