Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said she raised safety concerns and requested additional heat mitigation measures ahead of the 2026 FIFA Fan Festival in Houston but said event organizers did not act on most of her requests.
Hidalgo made the statement in an interview with Houston Public Media on Thursday, the same day the fan festival opened in the East Downtown (EaDo) area, where several attendees were hospitalized for heat-related illnesses.
The 2026 FIFA Fan Festival Houston is one of the official public viewing sites tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Houston Fire Department said four people were hospitalized and about 20 others received treatment for heat-related illnesses on Thursday, according to Capt. Raul Reyes.
Hidalgo said she submitted recommendations to organizers related to heat safety and water access but said she received limited responses.
“I sent a set of recommendations and requests and all I got back was, ‘We’ll take that into consideration,’” Hidalgo said. “I said, ‘OK, well, you got to do more than that,’ and then they didn’t respond.”
Chris Canetti, president of the Houston World Cup host committee, said organizers implemented multiple heat mitigation measures, including shade structures, cooling stations, watering stations, and air-conditioned spaces.
“Our medical people saw less cases yesterday than they anticipated,” Canetti said. “But when we did have some medical issues, they were dealt with properly, and people were taken care of as they should.”
Canetti said about 22,000 people attended the fan festival on Thursday, with entry temporarily suspended when the site reached its capacity of 7,500 people at one time. He said approximately 35,000 people were in the EaDo area during the event.
Hidalgo also said she was denied access to NRG Stadium until two days before the tournament began. Representatives of FIFA and NRG Park did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The stadium is operating under FIFA control during the tournament and has been rebranded as “Houston Stadium.”
Hidalgo referenced prior tensions with NRG Park officials, including a dispute earlier this year involving her removal from a rodeo event at the stadium. Rodeo officials disputed her account of the incident.
In a social media post Friday, Hidalgo said about 100 people in the fan festival medical area reported heat-related symptoms. She also said her office requested additional signage, water access, and misting stations.
Matthew Moreland of the National Weather Service said the EaDo location can experience elevated heat conditions due to its concrete surroundings and crowd density.