ZEE5 Hosts Football Carnival in Kolkata Ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026
ZEE5 hosted a football carnival in Kolkata featuring over 1,100 participants, celebrating the city's football culture ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ through sport, entertainment and local traditions.
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Kolkata’s football fever took over the streets of the city on Sunday with a grand football carnival at Vivekananda Park, Southern Avenue, ZEE5’s celebrations for FIFA World Cup 2026.
The rally was flagged off by Dr. Indranil Khan, Minister of Youth Services & Sports, Government of West Bengal. Over 1,100 people participated in the rally which included football fans, supporter clubs, dhakis, chau performers, cheerleaders, dancers and celebrities.
The procession wove through an important stretch of South Kolkata, with football-themed installations, live performances, music and fan zones to create an immersive celebration inspired by the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026.
The project was conceived to mirror Kolkata’s football culture, mixing sport and local customs and uniting football lovers and artists in a carnival-like atmosphere. The rally was accompanied by traditional Bengali cultural performances by dhakis and chau dancers, which showcased the city’s unique sporting and cultural identity.
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Fan Engagement:
Several celebrities including Vikram Chatterjee, Priyanka Sarkar, Ayush Das, Sushmita Roy, Bonny Sengupta and Angana Roy participated in the celebrations and interacted with the fans during the event.
Former footballers Aloke Mukherjee, Biswajit Bhattacharya, Sangram Mukherjee, Snehasish Chakroborty, Nilava Chakraborty, Rahim Nabi and Mehtab Hosain were also there.
Commenting on the initiative, Kartik Mahadev, Chief Marketing Officer, Zed Entertainment Enterprises Limited said, “At ZEE5 we wanted to celebrate the excitement around the FIFA World Cup 2026 in an authentic way for Kolkata, a city where football is deeply woven into the cultural fabric.
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"This carnival was designed to bring together fans, local traditions and entertainment in one shared celebration, creating an experience that extended beyond the screen and reflected the passion that the sport inspires. As audiences gear up for the FIFA World Cup 2026 on ZEE5, initiatives like these allow us to engage with communities through experiences that are culturally relevant, immersive and rooted in the moments that matter most to them," he added.
The football carnival is part of ZEE5's broader strategy to extend fan engagement beyond digital streaming through experiential marketing and on-ground activations.
