Renderings of the official FIFA Fan Festival Dallas, to be held in Fair Park concurrent with the 2026 World Cup.
Courtesy of the North Texas FWC /Dallas Morning News
A South Dallas caterer has been excited for the opportunity coming to Fair Park, with FIFA Fan Fest poised to draw soccer enthusiasts from across the globe during the World Cup.
However, worry about whether neighborhood businesses will be included at the fairgrounds quickly set in after that caterer was rejected for a concessions offer.
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While small businesses may face some challenges getting into the mix, the work to include them is ongoing, said Noelle LeVeaux, chief marketing officer for the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee.
“We’re just working out the details,” LeVeaux said. “Fan Festival has a lot of moving targets, with just never having done a festival for 34 days with this many people.”
For South Dallas, the World Cup presents the potential of an economic win. The scale of festivities, from June 11 to July 19, means scores of local businesses are competing for opportunities at an event where brands invest millions, if not hundreds of millions. LeVeaux said organizers are considering a setup for smaller operations and “working through exactly what that footprint can look like.”
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Shanay Wise, who runs Catering Done Wisely, expressed defeat at a Monday meeting with the Pointe South Business Group, a community organization.
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“It doesn’t seem as though we got an opportunity,” said Wise, who received the rejection from Legends Global, the company running concessions at Dos Equis Pavilion. Wise didn’t have context around why she got denied and said she didn’t see specific requirements listed. On Wednesday, she said she hadn’t heard from anyone with the organizing committee. Legends Global did not immediately respond for a request for comment.
Related: Dallas gets the World Cup, but FIFA controls the stage and match-day operations
“We have always been looking for ways to incorporate not only the whole region, not only all of Dallas, but particularly areas like Fair Park,” LeVeaux said, adding that the concession opportunity came with hurdles for caterers.
Wise’s rejection swiftly called into question whether the South Dallas community will be involved with Fan Fest. Zac Thompson, interim chair of Pointe South Business Group, said it felt “like I got hit over the head” when he heard about Wise. “I’m like, no, no, no, this changes my whole attitude.”
At the meeting, Thompson told dozens of attendees, “We have businesses in South Dallas [and] Fair Park who are vetted, who are capable, who are doing business. For them not to have an opportunity with the Fan Festival … right across the street from the neighborhood is a disservice.”
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Shanay Wise, center, sets up her booth with her student Erica Refro, left, 15, at a Juneteenth Celebration in Dallas in 2015. Right is Wise’s son Dallas Wise.
File Photo/Kye. R. Lee
Thompson and Wise demanded an explanation for why she was turned down. Thompson said Wednesday that the steps in the process are unclear. When Wise got the denial, it wasn’t stated that she may have other options.
He noted that plans are still being formed less than a month out from the festival. Pointe South leaders have been working with the World Cup organizing committee since 2025, hoping to position South Dallas businesses for success during the festivities. Thompson said LeVeaux and Monica Paul, the committee president, have been engaging and positive with the group.
LeVeaux said in the year leading up to the World Cup, she “knew there’d be some heavy lift requirements that would be especially hard for small businesses.” Caterers must have concession experience and are competing with companies that specialize in it. Rules around handling food also mean a company has to staff itself to feed thousands during the entire 34-day festival, making for a difficult challenge, she said.
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“It’s why we started communicating with these groups so early because there was a need to build out your business a little bit or to partner and collaborate,” LeVeaux said.
Wise applied through the committee’s North Texas Business Connect Program, which has thousands of submissions. It’s expected to be used for future major events.
Related: North Texas will see some economic boost from World Cup — but not that much, report says
The committee has been collecting information for interactive maps of businesses. And there is a program to drive foot traffic to businesses as part of an augmented reality scavenger hunt. LeVeaux said the committee hopes businesses around Fair Park take advantage of the crowds.
“We know that a lot of international visitors are walkers,” she said. “We’ve made sure that we’re working with the area to ensure that crosswalks are better. The city’s done a lot of work for that because we want people flowing into the businesses around Fair Park.”
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As for businesses seeking vendor opportunities, LeVeaux said the committee has their names, including those rejected. About 30 caterers in the South Dallas area submitted proposals. The committee is still working out details for a possible space where vendors, possibly food carts, can set up.
“We should be getting information, and we’ll send something out to that entire list once we have have kind of the guidelines and restrictions and kind of move from there,” LeVeaux said, adding that they’ll have an understanding of the opportunity and how to apply.
Not all of Fair Park will be used, making it a smaller event than what some might imagine, compared to crowds taking over the grounds during the State Fair of Texas. There aren’t many opportunities to sell items, either, with only a FIFA fan store for merchandise.
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“It’s a big database. A lot of people applied,” LeVeaux said. “If we get through this process and we really understand what we can bring in, it’s probably going to be a handful of people, still, that will get that opportunity.”
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.