Esports World Cup to bring a free festival to the Champs-Élysées on 2 August

The Esports World Cup will move part of its Paris programme onto the Champs-Élysées on 2 August. The Esports Festival by Esports World Cup will run from 15:30 to 20:00 on the avenue, free of charge and with no ticketing, in an event built with the Comité Champs-Élysées.

The festival will feature live competition on Trackmania, Rocket League and EA SPORTS FC 26. Professional players will take part alongside figures from music and entertainment, though the organisers have not named anyone yet. The full programme and the list of participants will be announced at a later date. The three titles all sit on the EWC calendar in their own right, but their official tournaments run later in the summer at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. The Champs-Élysées formats are therefore a showcase built for a walk-up audience rather than an extension of the Club Championship.

The EWC have never intended to stay confined to their main venue. The edition opened on 8 July with a ceremony at La Seine Musicale, and the festival follows the same logic on a far more exposed stage. Handing an esports event the Champs-Élysées is a first for the industry, on an avenue usually reserved for the Tour de France finish and the 14 July parade.

The Esports Foundation have framed the event around their stated ambition to widen the sport's audience and strengthen its community roots. The pitch targets families and passers-by as much as fans already following the competition, and the avenue draws heavy footfall in early August.