FIFA World Cup action draws thousands to Downtown Windsor

A travelling watch party brought Windsorites out to city hall to celebrate the spirit of the beautiful game on Wednesday. CTV Windsor's Robert Lothian reports.

TWEPI says at least 3,000 fans braved the heat to watch Argentina take on England in semi-final action.

FIFA hosted a fan event at the new City Hall Square, complete with sport activities and challenges all afternoon.

• In Photos: Windsor FIFA event

Tourism Windsor-Essex Pelee Island CEO Gordon Orr says they are pleased with the turnout for an event that took a year to plan.

“[FIFA Canada] approached us over a year ago and told us they were going to be doing this ‘Canada Celebrates Caravan’ and we put in a proposal. They loved it,” Orr said.

According to Orr, FIFA Canada loved the idea of hosting the event at the new fountain on the front lawn of City Hall.

“This is what we pitched. This sort of space. This sort of talent. And our roster of events, speak for themselves,” Orr said.

Orr said with having never hosted a FIFA event they were unsure how many people would participate in the free event, on a Wednesday afternoon in July.

And then the heat wave descended on the city.

“We were more worried about the rain,” Orr said. “We had expectations that the whole plaza and the whole square was going to be packed today and it was! And, you could just feel a positive vibe.”

FIFA and TWEPI worked with local businesses - including WindsorEats - to host the touring event which is now off to Brampton for the final game this weekend.