Swiss capital Bern gears up for women’s EURO football games

Host city Bern sees itself on course for the Women's EURO Keystone-SDA

A month before the European Women's Football Championship kicks off in Switzerland, the host city of Bern has announced a series of events for fans.

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The matches in Bern will be accompanied by the “Berner Ballzauber” festival. From July 1 to 27, parts of Bern’s city centre will be dedicated to the major event.

Specific signposting will guide locals and visitors to the fan zone on Bundesplatz, the corner on Waisenhausplatz or the Wankdorf stadium, as the City of Bern wrote in a press release on Thursday. Construction work on the Bundesplatz is due to start soon.

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An event of this magnitude brings with it a particular need for information not only on the part of visitors, but also on the part of the people of Bern. In addition to the tourist information centre at Bern railway station, Bern Welcome will be operating an additional information point in the Bundesplatz fan zone with the support of volunteers during the EUROs.

Fan Walks are organised by the respective national football associations. Host City Bern is in contact with the associations from Switzerland, Iceland, Portugal and Spain for the three group matches in the Wankdorf stadium.

On July 3 and 11, the route will lead from Viktoriaplatz through the Breitenrain district to the stadium. On the day of the Swiss match and possibly during the quarter-final, the Fan Walk will run from Bundesplatz through the old town, across Nydeggbrücke and via Aargauerstalden to the stadium.

Information in plain language

“It is very important to us that our summer football festival is not only physically accessible to everyone, but that the most important information is understandable for everyone. That’s why this information is also available online in plain language,” said Bern president Marieke Kruit.

Visitors should travel by public transport if possible. On match days, lockers, additional bicycle parking spaces and covered and guarded pushchair parking spaces are available at Stadion Wankdorf.

Matchgoers with physical disabilities – especially wheelchair users – must travel to the stadium via Bern railway station. Access for the disabled cannot be guaranteed at Wankdorf railway station.

Market takes place

Bundesplatz and Waisenhausplatz will generally be freely accessible to visitors during the “Berner Ballzaauber”. As with other major events in the city centre, mobile concrete elements will be used to protect the squares in accordance with the city’s security concept.

The situation will be assessed daily with the security authorities in July and measures will be adjusted if necessary. In addition to the employees of the local and commercial police, who will be deployed in public spaces, an awareness team will be available to deal with guests’ concerns.

On Bundesplatz, Bärenplatz and Waisenhausplatz, the entire organisation around the markets has been planned so that they can take place as usual.

Adapted from German by DeepL/mga

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