The first wave of free tickets to the FIFA Fan Festival in Toronto in June were snapped up on Wednesday within four hours of being made available online, an official says.

Sharon Bollenbach, executive director of the city’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Toronto Secretariat, said demand was “higher than anticipated” for the general admission tickets. The city made available its first allotment of 220,000 tickets through a ticket portal and fans quickly acquired them, she said.

“We’re excited by the response,” Bollenbach said in a statement Wednesday.

“The enthusiasm reflects the excitement building as Toronto gets ready to welcome the world for the FIFA World Cup 2026.”

General admission tickets are free but reservations have to be made online in advance because tickets will not be available at the gate, the city says.

Bollenbach said the city is managing demand and supporting access by releasing tickets in waves. The next release is scheduled for Friday, May 15, at 10 a.m.

The city said the festival will take place at Fort York National Historic Site and The Bentway over 22 days between June 11 to July 19 and festival days are timed with tournament match days.

Coun. Josh Matlow, who represents Toronto-St. Paul’s, said in an interview Wednesday he is not surprised by the demand and it’s important to remember that Toronto residents have paid through their tax dollars for the city to host the World Cup games.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that there is so much excitement about going to Fan Fest, both because Torontonians want to take part in big events in our city and there’s been a lot of publicity about the event itself,” Matlow said.

Initially advertised as a free event, the city reversed a controversial plan to charge $10 per ticket after strong public criticism.

“The reason that I fought so hard to ensure that it would be a free event for the general public is because, for so many Torontonians, it will be cost prohibitive to ever go and actually watch a game live at Toronto Stadium, where tickets go in the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars,” Matlow said.

Matlow also wonders if the Toronto secretariat has considered how to prevent or limit the selling of tickets that were acquired for free.

He said he questions why city staff recommended the festival be a ticketed event and said there is still time for council to consider having “rush lines” outside the festival in case space becomes available on a particular day.

Members of the public have to go through the city’s Fan Festival webpage to request tickets. The page links to Ticketmaster, which lists the tickets by date and time. A maximum of four general admission tickets can be reserved per transaction, the city has said.

Premium tickets for the festival were still available on Wednesday, some selling for as much as $358.70.