With T-100 days to go until the start of FIFA World Cup 2026, Toronto marked the milestone by hosting another World Cup event – or so I thought. When I attended the Countdown Clock reveal last year, Nathan Phillips Square was filled with several soccer related activations and booths. I expected this “100 Days to Go” event to be somewhat similar, but this time was different. Very different!
For starters, the
city put very little advertising into the free World Cup event. I only found out about it about a week or two
before on social media. Secondly, what
little advertising Toronto did to promote this event had a very vague
description of what to expect:
Experience a vibrant showcase of cultural performances, flavours and festivities from the communities that will be represented at Toronto Stadium during the tournament: Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Germany, Ghana, Panama and Senegal. Wear your team colours and get swept up in the excitement as Toronto prepares to welcome the world. Connect with fellow fans, explore the pavilions, and share in this special milestone together.
Like what does this even mean? What does the itinerary look like over the course of this 4-hour weeknight event? Are there any keynote speakers we should be looking forward to? What about local celebrities, especially those from the soccer community? So many questions, but very few answers.
And finally, the location was very questionable. Rebel Nightclub at Polson Pier – a popular entertainment complex that locals go to primarily in the summer to enjoy gorgeous lakeside views of the downtown skyline – was the venue chosen for this free community event. This isolated area is very close to the Port of Toronto with some film production companies, a few public parks, and a handful of small businesses. Why they decided to put a World Cup event here where public transit and parking is limited is beyond me?
Per the suggestion of the event organizers, I went online to book my free ticket just in case I decided to go. I was very undecided until the day of the event mainly because of the location and knowing how very few people likely would attend this. Boy, was I wrong! Although the event didn’t start until 5:30pm, I already saw a lineup of about 40-50 people deep at the entrance waiting to get in. The parking lot across the street was already about a quarter full even with $30 parking, and several local media outlets had already arrived with their camera crews to film event highlights. My instincts told me this venue would be much fuller than anticipated.
Upon entry, I walked in what seemed like one massive party. Colourful lights, black and gold décor, a massive LED screen at the front stage welcoming attendees, a food pavilion greeting you with tasty temptations from each of the countries being celebrated tonight, and club music just blaring out of the speakers. It felt like combination of the Great Gatsby meets Studio 54. There were also stairs near the front entrance leading to the second level, but I saw signage saying VIP entrance with an arrow pointing up that deterred me from exploring upstairs – a decision I would eventually come to regret later in the evening.
Mayor Olivia Chow was the keynote speaker for the evening but not expected to take the stage until after 6pm. Since I had 30 – 45 minutes to explore the venue, I kept to the main floor to check out each of the six country pavilions on display: Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Germany, Ghana, Panama, and Senegal. Each pavilion had mini flags to hand out to attendees while displaying items that closely represented their respective cultures. They each had QR codes to scan, which ended up taking you to their main tourism website. So yeah, I wasn’t at a World Cup event as much as a Travel and Tourism event at first glance.
Ghana had the best pavilion by a landslide. With a booth staff around 8-10 people, several of the elders wore elaborate clothing. They also were very welcoming to every person that stopped by their booth while dancing to every beat blasting out from the speakers. If you wanted to get a photo of them – or with them – then they were quick to oblige. The electric energy coming from Ghana was exactly what you want to kickoff this cultural showcase. Panama gets an honourable mention for many of the similar reasons Ghana stood out in my mind. Unfortunately, with only 3 people at their booth and being located almost directly across from Ghana, their pavilion was a bit overshadowed as a result.
Croatia and Germany both had somewhat underwhelming pavilions to my surprise. The energy simply was not there. They felt like your stereotypical tourism information booths where you can find more information online about their travel and tourism options. However, both countries are very popular tourism destinations and the only two countries at the event that casual soccer fans are already familiar with. No need to oversell themselves in this case.
At 6pm, the Master of Ceremonies came on stage to address the crowd, make some land claim acknowledgements, and introduced a Mohawk Chief to lead a prayer and song in his native tongue while his daughter performed an indigenous dance routine. Afterwards, Mayor Chow came on stage to welcome the crowd formally. As I panned across the club, I saw the entire audience listening intently to the Mayor’s remarks. As usual, Mayor Chow flubbed a few lines here and there with her semi-monotone voice for what should be a hyped-up event. But that’s just who she is as a person – an uncharismatic leader who means well.
Following the opening remarks, Canada kicked off the cultural performance with an indigenous family doing a few dances followed by a couple playing the fiddle to represent Canada’s Maritime region. At this point, I was ready to walk around the rest of the club as we were told there were some soccer activations on the second floor, which is when I realized I could go upstairs after all. But I was stopped in my tracks when the Master of Ceremonies came back on stage to introduce Germany next. Wait, what?!?
It was at this point that I realized what this “cultural showcase” really meant – each country was to be given 10 – 15 minutes on stage to perform cultural songs and dances that best represent their nation. Okay, Toronto. I see you. I hear you. This night just took a significant turn that I was not expecting but was so relieved when it did. Having gone to two World Cups previously, I tell people who have never been that it’s the festive community spirit that keeps drawing people back – me included. For one month every four years, the world unites to watch the best players battle each other for the top prize from the world’s most popular sport. Fans from across the world come together to share cultural differences with one another and behave like one supportive community. And this is what tonight’s event was all about.
Germany took the stage next with some unfortunate hiccups in the beginning. A group of women took the stage to perform a highly energetic and interactive “dancercise” routine with the audience. However, the deejay played the wrong song twice, which killed the mood very quickly. The one thing that salvaged their routine was the German tourism slideshow displayed on the LED screen behind them.
After that mediocre performance, a German couple dressed in lederhosen and dirndl took the stage next to what I was almost certain would be a brief polka performance. And my intuition was right! Within seconds, the crowd got into the performance as the performers played a medley of popular tunes, like “Sweet Carolina” and sports chants, like “Olé, Olé, Olé.” This polka medley more than made up for Germany’s pavilion and underwhelming opening act.
Senegal became the first African country to take the stage after this performance, which was a great cultural shift. This acoustic performance consisted of drumming, dance, and chants representative of Africa instead of solely focused on Senegalese culture. That was a smart move on their part with three of the seven nations performing at this event coming from Africa. It also brought the energy down a bit with a more mellow reaction from the audience.
However, the mellow vibes did not last long once Panama took the stage next. They started off with a Tamborito – a genre of Panamanian folkloric music and dance dating back as early as the 17th century. A traditional folk music and dance of Panama, this romantic couple’s dance often involves a small percussion ensemble while performed in formal costumes in front of large, interactive crowds that form a large circle around the performers. The Tamborito is most performed during Panamanian festivals, and particularly the Panama Carnival.
Following this
performance, several musicians came on stage to perform a medley of Música
Típica – or Pindin. Since the 1940s,
this style has combined traditional folk elements with instruments like the
saxophone, accordion, conga drums, and güiro.
Like the Tamboritio, this music is central to festivals, especially
Panama Carnival. Are you seeing a theme
here yet? A modern evolution of the
Tipica fuses a blend of Spanish hip-hop and reggae, which was the case
here. This performance felt like I was
at a Latin music festival or concert instead of a World Cup event and I loved
every minute of it! Even the crowd got
into the music dancing, singing, and waving their mini flags to every beat from
the stage. At one point, chants of
“Panama! Panama! Panama!” broke out in
between songs. What a vibe!
At this point, the programming took a short break so attendees could walk around the venue to wander around or to meet with some Toronto FC legends, Jonathan Osorio, Dwayne Di Risario and Sebastian Giovinco. Osorio is technically still on the national team albeit it is undetermined if he will make the final lineup for World Cup like he did back in 2022 in Qatar. I needed to charge my phone for a bit to get more footage and photos of the final performances of the night, so I chilled out at the back lounge area on the main floor for the next 15 – 20 minutes.
Croatia took the stage next once the programming resumed. A women’s choir ensemble took up the entire stage before singing acapella versions of several different Croatian folk songs. It was mesmerizing to watch this group of around 50 women sing in such powerful harmony. Following this, the men joined the women on stage to perform Nijemo Kolo – a traditional Croatian folk dance. This entire cultural performance from Croatia was well executed from start to finish. While it may not have been as highly energetic and festive as Panama, Croatia showed up with a lot of class and dignity in this display that made you feel almost like you were a part of their community.
Next up was Côte
d'Ivoire who kicked things off with a percussion performance followed by a
traditional high-energy dance known as the Boloye. What I loved about this performance were the
beautiful, shredded Raffia skirts that the dancers were wearing. And the sheer athleticism of their high kicks
and powerful poses was something to admire!
While the main goal of this event was to celebrate the upcoming World
Cup tournament, it didn’t escape my mind that this cultural event was mainly a
way for attendees to consider visiting these countries in the future. While Côte d'Ivoire may not be on the top of
my list right now, I did come out of that performance feeling like I need dive
deeper into their culture at some point.
Mission accomplished by these fine folks representing one of Africa’s
largest nations!
For this grand finale, a procession of 20 people deep slowly shuffled their way to the middle of the stage following an elderly man twirling an umbrella above him to the beat of the drums. What we were witnessing here was a Ghanian Royal Procession specifically rooted in Ashanti culture. The umbrella – known as the Akini – is symbolic of protection and status. The akini is used to define the sacred space of the King or Chief, which is why the group behind this elderly man walked slowly behind him on stage – to respect his authority. And while we’re on the topic of this slow walk or shuffle, what we witnessed here is called the Adwoa dance. It’s a very cool, effortless dance that relies on hand gestures to communicate specific emotions and messages to the audience. I couldn’t tell you what messages they were specifically communicating to us here, but you could feel the energy being raised as the closer they got to the middle of the stage.
One final observation about this performance was the Kente cloth the dancers wore on stage. Kente is the most famous textile from Ghana with each pattern and each colour bearing a specific meaning, gold for royalty or blue for peace. For this group, wearing Kente in a royal procession is a way of showing prestige and national pride. It was also a great choice to have them perform the grand finale as the royal procession is often reserved by West African communities for moments of unity and togetherness within the community.
And so there you have
it. My experience at Toronto’s official
“100 Days to Go” kickoff event to FIFA World Cup 2026. I came here thinking it would be like any
other World Cup event, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. And the fact that Toronto was the only host
city to put on a cultural festival like this just added another nuance of prestige
to this once event. I ended up leaving this
night more excited for the World Cup that I have ever been before and with a newfound
appreciation for the nations we’ll be hosting here in June.
