Salzburg – Football Festival for Europe
Salzburg will host three of the 31 qualifying matches for the 13th UEFA European Football Championship as an official Host City in 2008. From June 7 – 29, 2008 Salzburg will celebrate a virtual Football Festival together with Europe’s leading teams and thousands of fans from around the world in its architecturally enchanting Old City. The high art of football will be practiced and football history rewritten under the watchful eyes of W. A. Mozart in the Host City of Salzburg – one of the world’s most beautiful cultural venues.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would have loved the game of football. As a child he enjoyed Bölzlschiessen (target practice) on Sundays, as an adult he loved to play cards and had a passion for billiards and bowling. He would be very appreciative of the fact that the UEFA EURO 2008TM the world’s third largest sports event is being held in his home town of Salzburg.
Sports and culture – nowhere else can these seeming opposites be so ideally combined as in Salzburg. UEFA’s Host City logo for Salzburg points to the omnipresence of music, culture and Mozart. But the city of Salzburg has hosted large-scale sports events of international import for many years. According to Bert Brugger, Managing Director of Tourismus Salzburg GmbH (TSG), “The UEFA EURO 2008TM will make Salzburg the scene of the largest sports event in the city’s history. We repeatedly demonstrated our experience and professionalism in organizing and conducting large events, such as the UCI Road Cycling World Championship last year. We will play out all our trump cards as an experienced host during the 2008 European Football Championship.”
The sports side of the culture city
Outside the gates of the city, near Klessheim Palace, approximately 100,000 spectators will watch the three group matches on Tuesday, June 10, Saturday, June 14 and Wednesday, June 18, 2008 live at 8:45 p.m. at the European Championship Stadium in Wals-Siezenheim. Which teams will ride the wave of euphoria on sold-out stands will be decided on December 2, 2007 in Lucerne during the draw for the final tournament. Fans will also learn which fan groups will travel to Salzburg under the maxim “Follow your Team“. “Salzburg’s tourism will profit from the UEFA EURO 2008 TM event for years“, Bert Brugger speaks from experience. “Many fans will explore the city’s many-faceted offer apart from the football games and return again with their partners or families. Salzburg is a European city of world renown that combines beauty, culture and adventure like no other.“ The city of Salzburg was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site over ten years ago and is quite diversified in the culture, gastronomy and hotel sector, offering over 10,000 guest beds. The city also profits from its central location and favorable public transport connections. Salzburg Airport is a destination airport for many international airlines and low-cost carriers. Direct flights to Salzburg are available, e.g. from Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hannover, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn, Frankfurt, Leipzig-Halle, Amsterdam, Vienna, Paris, London, Manchester and Zurich.
Fan Zone in the heart of the city
“Salzburg’s Old City with Mozart Square, Residenz Square and Capital Square will become a Fan Zone under the motto “Celebrate the Football Festival”. This is unique since most cities move the public viewing sites to the outskirts“, explains Host City Manager Wolfgang Weiss, who is responsible for the smooth flow of the European Championship games, coordination of VIP hospitality and setting up the Fan Zones together with his team. “The Fan Zone will be open daily from 2:00 – 11:00 p.m. in Salzburg with free admission during the entire UEFA EURO 2008 TM .” Three big video walls measuring 40 m2 each will be set up on the squares around the Cathedral, broadcasting all of the European Championship games played in Austria and Switzerland live. In addition, there will be a stage, a food court around Residenz Square as well as pagodas for sponsors and a VIP area available to companies for custom-tailored evenings filled with culture, sports and entertainment. The Kapitelplatz will be decorated as a “Family Park“, offering entertainment, shows and sponsor programs for the entire family. “We expect that 25,000 visitors per day will be watching the matches live in the Fan Zone“, remarks Wolfgang Weiss. “Our concept has not been officially confirmed yet but our work ranks among the best in the host cities in terms of quality and deadlines met.“ The total budget for the Fan Zone is nearly two million euros. It will be sponsored by the 14 international UEFA EURO 2008 TM sponsors. Salzburg can opt to take additional local sponsors on board. “These sponsors will leave a total of one million euros in Salzburg,“ estimates Wolfgang Weiss. “In addition, the UEFA EURO 2008 TM will generate considerable indirect profitability for the city.“
The traffic and security concepts for the UEFA EURO 2008 TM are nearly finalized. The two countdown clocks in front of Salzburg Train Station and at the European Championship stadium in Wals-Siezenheim are counting down the days left until the 2008 Football Festival kicks off in Salzburg on June 7.
Bookmark, email a friend, subscribe to the feed, ...
Trackback
Latest comments