After the opening on day 1 by Mayor Burkhard Jung, the appearance of MEUTE and the 5-1 victory of the German national football team in front of over 15,000 visitors, day 2 was a little quieter. The focus here was primarily on public viewing and various sporting activities. The Youth Parliament’s “JuPa Cup” took place in the Bruno Plache Stadium with 86 participants. The winner was chosen as part of the UEFA Children's Foundation's “10,000 Smiles” program. At the end, all participants received the coveted tickets for the European Championship game between Netherlands and France. EM ambassador Jörg Junhold delivered the good news.

At the same time, an inclusion soccer tournament took place on the small soccer field. Kickers with and without disabilities showed their talent and competed fairly. Here, too, after the final whistle, all participants from seven teams aged between ten and 57 could feel like winners, even if Team England took first place.

Today the Krystallpalast Varieté showed a program of shows and acrobatics, after which the three games of the day were broadcast. Meanwhile, seven e- youth teams played a tournament on the small pitch in the fan zone. Girls and boys from SV Schleußig, Eintracht Süd, SV West and Blau-Weiß Leipzig had a lot of fun kicking in front of a large audience. “That was the meaning behind it, as well as the idea of fair play. Everyone got a medal at the end,” said project coordinator Heike Peschke from the Leipzig Football Association and EURO 2024 club advisor.

"I am sure that we will experience a wonderful football festival," Jung continued. He is looking forward to great days, a great cultural program and the international flair: "I hope that, no matter where we come from, we will hug each other and celebrate this festival together." The mayor then officially declared the Fan Fest open.

This was followed by the multi-religious kick-off with representatives of various denominations. Pastor Thomas Bohne - Oratorium Leipzig, Pastor Martin Hundertmark - Evangelical Thomas Church in Leipzig, Rabbi Zsolt Balla - IRG Leipzig & Saxony State Association of Jewish Communities, Regional Manager Tayyar Kocak - Muslim Community Leipzig as well as Ulrike Schmidt and Olaf Olschewski from the National Team Fan Club spoke. They all emphasized the connecting element of football and this European Championship. Two white doves rose and a match ball was symbolically handed over to Burkhard Jung.

The program in Fan Zone on Saturday and Sunday

Tomorrow, Saturday, there will be a concert by the Thomaner youth choir and the chamber choir of the Anna Magdalena Bach School at 1:15 p.m. and a concert by the symphonic wind orchestra of the Leipzig "Johann Sebastian Bach" music school at 1:45 p.m. The ball will roll on the small football field between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the inclusion football tournament. Public viewings will be offered at 3 p.m. (Hungary - Switzerland), 6 p.m. (Spain - Croatia) and 9 p.m. (Italy - Albania). On Sunday, a children's tournament will take place on the football field between 1p.m. and 5 p.m. and the Krystallpalast Varieté will take the stage at 1.20 p.m. The public viewings: 3 p.m. Poland - Netherlands, 6 p.m. Slovenia - Denmark and 9 p.m. Serbia - England.