Lawrence city commissioners held a roughly 3-minute special meeting Friday to approve permits to allow alcohol consumption at potential additional downtown street parties for World Cup matches.
It’s unclear how many additional games Team Algeria, which has its base camp in Lawrence, and Team USA might still play in the tournament. However, city staff members wanted to take the opportunity to get the commission’s signoff.
“We’ve been very pleasantly surprised with the success of both of those teams so far in group play in the World Cup,” Assistant City Manager Brandon McGuire said.
McGuire said city staff can approve most of the necessary permitting and authorizations for additional street parties, but they needed the commission’s vote for the permits to allow the sale, possession and consumption of alcohol in the 1000 block of Massachusetts Street.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
The commission’s next regular meeting isn’t until July 7, which would’ve been too late for many of the potential game dates.
If the games don’t happen, there will not be parties on those nights, McGuire confirmed in response to a question from Mayor Brad Finkeldei.
Results of the final group stage matches, which are set for Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27, will help clear up the picture of Team Algeria’s future in the tournament.
Algeria is 1-1 so far in the group stage, falling 3-0 to defending champions Argentina but winning 2-1 over Jordan. Team Algeria’s next match is set for 9 p.m. Saturday, June 28 against Austria; find details about the downtown watch party in the article at this link.
Potential times and dates the approved alcohol permits cover for future street parties are as follows:
• 3 p.m to midnight Wednesday, July 1 — Team USA (2-1) is set to face Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 2 p.m. to midnight Thursday, July 2
• 2 p.m. to midnight Friday, July 3
• 3 p.m. to midnight Monday, July 6
• 10 a.m. to midnight Friday, July 10
• 10 a.m. to midnight Tuesday, July 14
• 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday, July 19
Finkeldei, Vice Mayor Mike Courtney and Commissioners Mike Dever and Kristine Polian voted unanimously to approve the permits. Commissioner Amber Sellers was not in attendance.
“Thank you, everyone, for making this special meeting work, and look forward to some big victories this weekend, and some more games to come,” Finkeldei said.
“Rock chalk, Algeria,” McGuire added.
See many more World Cup-related events in the article at this link.
If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat — get the latest news from the Times delivered to your inbox:
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
More coverage: World Cup 2026
Courtney Lane/Lawrence Times
Latest Lawrence news:
Jacob Rice / Lawrence Times
