Welcome, World Cup Visitors

15 hours ago

Ben Young,

It’s exciting to think of so many people coming to Atlanta this month. If you are a visitor, welcome to Georgia! Hopefully you’ll find plenty of Southern hospitality to go around and lots of fun things to do.

Georgia is traditionally good at hosting visitors. Metro Atlanta received 51 million visitors in 2024 – nearly five times the state population. Millions of extra people in the region’s five core counties each summer are scarcely noticed – but what if they were all Downtown?

The resounding message from city leaders, as you’ll read in Amritha Alladi Joseph’s article, is that we can handle it. We handled the 1996 Olympics, which brought in more than 2 million visitors, and we regularly host big sporting events, including the Super Bowl, which will be back in 2028.

This summer is a bit different, as the matches are spread out over four weeks. A lot of questions have been swirling around. Will visitors stick around between matches, go road-tripping around the state and region, or will they use Atlanta as a home base to hop around to other matches in other cities? Will referring to the sport as “soccer” be considered a faux pas?

For the visitors who stay here all four weeks, this issue highlights some of the activities taking place in Georgia that correspond with the Atlanta matches. There is no way to cover it all, but we did our best to feature events that will connect not just visitors to our entertainment spots around the city, but also neighbors to one another.

Hopefully you’ll find plenty of Southern hospitality to go around and lots of fun things to do.

It has been exciting to watch Downtown spruce up. There are finishing touches that have enhanced Downtown walkability that were already underway such as the Blue Line, created by Georgia State University to ensure safe and reliable corridors for students and faculty, and improvements on the streets that connect many of the Downtown hotels to Centennial Park. Additionally, Underground Atlanta has absorbed nightlife icons MJQ, Masquerade and Ravine. The 2025 renovation and expansion of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights solidifies properties adjacent to Centennial Park as a museum district, joining the Children’s Museum of Atlanta, World of Coca-Cola, Georgia Aquarium and College Football Hall of Fame.

Then there is the new CTR (formerly CNN Center), which features the largest bar in the city. Nearby Centennial Yards has the exciting new attraction Cosm Atlanta, which allows fans to experience live sports, entertainment and cinematic shared reality. And State Farm Arena has a fantastic summer lineup including A$AP Rocky June 11, Ariana Grande July 6, 8 and 9 and Tame Impala July 11 and 12. The FIFA Fan Festival in Centennial Park, which will show matches on a big screen TV and feature live entertainment in between, will be connected to Mercedes-Benz Stadium by “Georgia Street,” a stretch of local vendors that will offer food, arts and crafts. The Georgia World Congress Center Authority, which is operating the festival, will also have state-themed programming for visitors.

The Atlanta Streetcar conveniently connects the Centennial Olympic Park district – which includes SkyView Atlanta, a 200-foot-tall observation wheel, and The Tabernacle, a renowned concert venue and former church – to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park. After you enjoy this moving experience in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood, it’s a short walk down Edgewood to the Atlanta Beltline Eastside Trail, where you can jump on a scooter or take a 40-minute walk up to the Carter Center. There are plenty of shops, galleries and eateries along the way and people-watching galore.

Atlanta is still frequently criticized for its traffic, but as you see, parts of it are actually quite walkable. The Beltline Eastside Trail also continues south through the Edgewood Park neighborhood; both it and nearby East Atlanta Village have lots of great eateries and nightspots. North of the Carter Center, the Beltline also connects to Ponce City Market, Virginia Highland and Piedmont Park.

Of course, many more neighborhoods and attractions are accessible by MARTA, including Midtown, Buckhead, Perimeter, Decatur and Avondale Estates. Transit Ambassadors will be on hand at the Vine City, SEC (Sports, Entertainment and Convention) District and Five Points stations to help guide people to matches and activities.

If you’ll be here long enough to see the rest of the state, I recommend visiting the statues of James Brown, Otis Redding and Ray Charles in their respective hometowns of Augusta, Macon and Albany – and for good measure cruise down beautiful Johnny Mercer Boulevard in Savannah.

Whether keeping it local or traveling about, you’ll find Georgia has something for everyone. Enjoy your stay and come back soon!