Camden County and state partners on Thursday unveiled SoccerFest26, a free three-day World Cup celebration set for June 25-27 at Wiggins Waterfront Park in Camden. The event will run daily from noon to 10 p.m. and is meant to pull fans to the Camden Waterfront as the 2026 tournament gets closer.

For Camden Mayor Victor G. Carstarphen, the announcement is about more than a festival calendar. He said residents from the City of Camden, Camden County and South Jersey are eager to take part, and argued that the World Cup will lift New Jersey onto the world stage while bringing a strong economic boost for small business owners. That message landed on the same day local leaders began laying out how the region plans to capitalize on soccer’s biggest event.

Camden County, Visit South Jersey, the NJEDA and other state and local leaders say SoccerFest26 is part of a broader regional push tied to the FIFA World Cup 2026™. Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said the Camden Waterfront will host a three-day festival that draws thousands of fans into the community, giving people a chance to experience the tournament without traveling far or paying for a match ticket. Assemblyman Bill Moen said South Jersey is in a unique position because it sits near two match locations, and the effort is aimed at building fan zones and programming across the region.

That wider plan is where the free celebration becomes more than a one-site event. Micro-activations are set for Haddon Heights, Haddon Township, Glassboro, Collingswood, Burlington City and Haddonfield throughout the tournament, extending the reach beyond Camden even as Wiggins Waterfront Park serves as the center of the launch. The tournament itself will bring major matches nearby in Philadelphia and Northern New Jersey, giving South Jersey officials a reason to push visitors, spending and attention into their own towns.

What leaders have not detailed yet is the actual programming inside SoccerFest26 itself. The announcement set the dates, hours and location, but left open which activities, entertainment or match-linked features will fill the waterfront over those three days. For now, the clearest takeaway is that New Jersey’s World Cup buildout has moved from planning to a public calendar, and Camden is set to be one of its most visible stops.