World Cup Fan Fest comes to Mineola Memorial Park

The cry of “GOOOAL!" will be the chant of choice on June 19-21 when the inaugural World Cup Fan Fest takes over Mineola Memorial Park. The three-day event serves as a communal watch party for the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, holding up to 2,000 people.

“This is a community experience of viewing the World Cup together,” says event organizer Grace Kelly of LiPOPUP, which is producing the event. “Everyone has heritage somewhere in the world. This event will bring in different cultures and communities onto the same field.”

The idea stemmed from Mineola Mayor Paul A. Pereira, a soccer enthusiast who coached the varsity team at Mineola High School for 21 years.

“Soccer is in my blood. It’s my passion. Our community has always embraced the sport and I thought it would be a great fit,” Pereira says. “When I traveled in Europe, I’ve seen these large communal watch parties in a town square or piazza. We don’t really have that here, so we wanted to create it in Mineola Memorial Park.”

Although the event is focused on the soccer matches, there will be various elements spread across four fields to make the atmosphere more festive. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect.

SOCCER FIRST

Three soccer matches will be streamed each day on a jumbo LED screen 32 feet long by 15 feet high set on a 2-foot riser with full sound system, compliments of Sound Island. People are encouraged to bring their own blankets and lawn chairs to set up camp on the open field.

The scheduled games are as follows:

• June 19: USA vs. Australia at 3 p.m., Scotland vs. Morocco at 6 p.m. and Brazil vs. Haiti at 8:30 p.m.
• June 20: Netherlands vs. Sweden at 1 p.m., Germany vs. Ivory Coast at 4 p.m. and Ecuador vs. Curaçao at 8 p.m.
• June 21: Spain vs. Saudi Arabia at noon, Belgium vs. Iran at 3 p.m. and Uruguay vs. Cape Verde at 6 p.m.

“This doesn’t happen in the U.S. on our soil that often. The last time was 1994,” Kelly says. “To see the world compete for this cup will draw people in who may not have otherwise paid attention to the sport.”

Pereira adds, “Things are different from 1994, we are a soccer country now. People follow the sport and students know the players like they know Tom Brady, Derek Jeter and Aaron Judge. We have evolved when it comes to soccer. Our fans are educated.”

FOOD GALORE

There will be eight different food trucks and 10 tents selling dishes and treats throughout each day.

Seeking a sausage sandwich? Hit up the Sausage Kings food truck which sells a sausage and pepper hero ($17), jumbo hot dogs ($5), half-pound burgers ($10-$11), knishes ($6) and its signature knish sandwich ($21).

“We cut a knish in half and put sausage and peppers in between,” owner Tom O’Neill says. “It’s a little heavy but you’ve got to eat it with a fork.”

Wash it down with homemade Bayside Lemonade — $5 for six ounces and $8 (in a souvenir cup) for 32 ounces. Refills are $5.

Try a Brazilian steak picanha ($26) with yellow rice, fries, garlic bread and vinaigrette from Beleza BBQ. Chef Maicon Tona also serves up pork belly sandwiches ($13), barbecue grilled chicken ($15) and the house special Beleza Burger ($26).

“This is a double burger with double cheese plus Brazilian sausage, bacon and ham with lettuce, onion, tomato and fries,” says co-owner Marcia Tona.

For bite-size snacks, visit the All American Wontons food truck, which offers a variety of flavored wontons such as mac and cheese, spinach artichoke, Philly cheesesteak, Buffalo chicken and honey barbecue chicken plus dessert-style wontons, like churros, brownie madness and apple crumb. Wontons are sold as six  ($12), nine ($17), 12 ($22) or a family meal deal of 48 ($75).

Bacon lovers will flip for the Hot Smoke Bacon food tent, which features chocolate chip cookies with bacon (three for $8) or caramelized bacon on a stick ($5, three for $13).

“Each strip is 12inches long and one inch wide, glazed with maple syrup plus sweet, salt and smoky spices,” owner Adam Stocki says.

The alcohol is provided by Tapville Social in Wantagh, a self-pour mobile taproom with 16 beers on tap ($8-$9 for 10-ounce cups) and The Jacket Microbrewery & Bar of Mineola, which sells freshly brewed craft beers like Knickerbocker Orange Pale Ale, Cold Case Pilsner, Breakout Blondy blonde ale, Emerald dry Irish stout and La Torre Mexican lager ($7 per pint).

MUSIC AND MORE

An array of activities are planned to keep guests moving and grooving.

Toss on a set of headphones and enter the Silent Disco house.

“We have a DJ that spins three different playlists. You get to choose from three separate channels — classic rock, hip-hop or top 40,” says Guy Brogna, co-owner of Sound Island. “It’s all done in an inflatable house with a disco ball and lights holding 25 people per 15-minute shift.”

Spin DJ Academy will play tunes in between matches and serve as an emcee making announcements to the audience.

“We are going to focus on songs they would play at the soccer games that are fun, upbeat and inspirational,” says DJ Jared Feldman.

Adults can relax and light up a hand-rolled cigar in PSSITA (Put Some Smoke in the Air) Mobile Cigar Lounge, which is based in Hauppauge.

Dave’s Bounce and Play presents a 100-foot-long inflatable Ultimate Venom obstacle course that can hold a dozen people of all ages at a time.

“There’s tunnels to climb through, objects to go over, a slide to go down as well as a rock wall to climb,” says owner Dave Jarushewsky. “It’s plenty to keep everyone entertained.”

Additionally, a soccer shot game, face painting and cotton candy ($5) rounds out the Fun Zone area.