With just 110 days until the first 2026 FIFA World Cup match in Atlanta, the mother of all coordinated, soccer-related summer blowouts has been announced for locations across the city. 

According to organizers, a free, multi-weekend extravaganza called “Atlanta Beltline Fest” will coincide with World Cup festivities in June and July. 

Plans call for events and programming to be spread across 17 miles of paved trails—some of which isn’t open or doesn’t exist yet—along the Beltline’s Eastside, Southside, and Westside multi-use pathways.  

The goal is to make almost the entirety of opened Beltline sections “a major destination for fan energy and community celebration,” according to Atlanta Beltline Inc. officials. 

Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall along the Beltline's Eastside Trail. Erin Sintos; courtesy of Atlanta Beltline Inc.

South of downtown, the spacious Pittsburgh Yards property (356 University Ave.) along the open Southside Trail is being positioned as a key anchor site for World Cup hoopla, to include a Beltline Marketplace hub at the complex’s Container Courtyard. A kickoff event is in the works there on the afternoon of June 14. 

Other dates and times are TBD. But across the 17 miles of Beltline trails, plans on match days call for live music and other performances, “watch-party vibes,” pop-up markets, local art, and “cultural showcases” geared toward both global visitors and locals, according to an announcement today. 

Overview of Pittsburgh Yards and the Beltline's Southside Trail. Erin Sintos; courtesy of Atlanta Beltline Inc.

To access the Beltline, visitors are being advised to bike, use nearby MARTA hubs such as Inman Park, or take another infrastructure option that doesn’t yet exist: the MARTA Rapid A-Line, a bus-rapid-transit route between downtown and (almost) the Southside Trail that’s set to begin service in April.  

Between June 15 and July 15, downtown’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host eight World Cup matches. 

Those include five group-stage games, a Round of 32 and Round of 16 match, and alongside Dallas, a semifinal match to determine which two teams play in the finals outside New York City on July 19.  

Sound like a ... gooooooooooal ?!?!!! 

The Beltline's Eastside Trail in summer. Erin Sintos; courtesy of Atlanta Beltline Inc.

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