In the thick of Houston heat, hundreds of sweaty bodies packed the crowded FIFA Fan Festival in downtown Houston, dancing and cheering ahead of the United States' match against Australia. Kenneth Jimenez did so dressed as one of America's founding fathers.
"Oh, I'm sweating," he said.
Jimenez is a high school teacher, and said he already had the costume on hand for when he teaches about the Enlightenment or the American Revolution. On Friday, he figured it would be a great outfit to cheer for the U.S. men's soccer team, which beat Australia 2-0 in Seattle to clinch a spot in the World Cup’s knockout stage.
"I mean, why not?" he told Houston Public Media. "It's summer, I'm on summer break. I haven't had this much fun in a while."
While not every fan was dressed in a thick costume, those at the Fan Festival on Friday were rooting for the U.S. through a heat advisory. The National Weather Service estimated heat index values of up to 112 degrees Fahrenheit until Saturday night, as thousands of fans cheered for the United States — and thousands more plan to celebrate and attend Saturday's match between the Netherlands and Sweden at NRG Stadium.
When a heat advisory is in effect, the FIFA Fan Festival does not take any additional precautions, but its officials say the festival was organized to be prepared for such heat regardless of whether an advisory is in place. For example, the festival has free water refill stations, cooling stations, and air-conditioned spaces. The main stage features a giant tent that offers shade.
Additionally, cooling towels and complimentary sunscreen are available at the festival.
Throughout the day Friday, fans packed the misting stations and lines formed for the water bottle filling stations. Watching the match from the Fan Festival's main stage, many of the fans sat down on the warm astroturf, even if they weren't under the shaded tent.
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In its first week of operation, from June 11-17, the Fan Festival had 196 medical incidents reported, according to a festival spokesperson.
"Not all 196 contacts were heat-related, but for those that were, most of them were managed at the festival's Cooling Station, and fans were able to return to enjoying the event," a Fan Fest spokesperson said in a statement.
That still represents a small fraction of attendees at the FIFA Fan Festival. In its first week of operations, the festival saw 107,622 attendees, which organizers said exceeded the Houston World Cup host committee's expectations by about 30%. Overall, organizers estimated some 150,000 visitors came to the East Downtown neighborhood in that week.
Thus far, the festival has reached its capacity of about 7,500 attendees three times, including Thursday night's match between Mexico and South Korea.
Though the heat was brutal on Friday, for some fans it was worth it for the celebration. Adrian Rodriguez sat in the shade of a picnic table, eager to root on the American soccer team.
"They have us hydrated, as always they have shade and cooling stations, so they’re taking really good care of us," he said, speaking of the Fan Festival. "If you’re going to be in Houston, you’re always going to feel the heat. But I mean, we’re really managing out here, and they’re doing their best."
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