The Esports World Cup (EWC), organised by the Esports Foundation (EF), will bring a free, open-air festival to Paris’ Champs-Élysées on Sunday, 2 August, as part of an effort to introduce esports and gaming culture to mainstream audiences beyond the arena.

The Esports Festival by Esports World Cup is co-created with the Comité Champs-Élysées and will be open to the public, with no ticket required. The event is designed to give Parisians and visitors, including families and first-time audiences, the chance to experience competitive gaming alongside more traditional forms of entertainment, transforming one of the city’s best-known avenues into an open-air stage for one afternoon.

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At the event, the founders of France’s leading esports clubs, Team Vitality, Karmine Corp, and Gentle Mates, will share the stage with personalities from music, entertainment and content creation, forming mixed teams. Those teams will compete in a Rocket League mini-tournament and take part in Trackmania and EA FC showmatches. Beyond the main stage, a dedicated interactive area will run throughout the afternoon, offering hands-on activities alongside educational talks and panel discussions with professional players and teams.

The festival runs alongside the Esports World Cup’s main event at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, which is set to occupy the French capital across the summer. Organisers describe the Champs-Élysées festival as “the largest public celebration of gaming and esports France has ever seen,” pointing to a domestic base of over two million esports regular viewers in the country.

Esports Leaders, the executive gathering at the 5-star Hôtel du Collectionneur will bring together senior decision-makers in and around esports and gaming during the closing days of the Esports World Cup. Find more details at this link.

The festival forms part of the Esports Foundation‘s stated “mission to grow esports into the world’s biggest sport by introducing it to new audiences, strengthening its connection with communities and helping build a more sustainable future for the industry”. The move is in line with a broader objective outlined by the Foundation’s CEO, Ralf Reichert, in an interview with The Esports Radar in 2025, when he laid out plans to take esports well beyond its core fan base.

Saudi Arabia is reported to be investing around $290 million into EWC Paris 2026, underscoring the scale of the Kingdom’s push to establish the event following an emergency relocation of this year’s EWC from Riyadh to Paris.

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