LYNN — As the world’s biggest soccer tournament arrives in Massachusetts, Lynn’s Haitian community will have a chance to celebrate Team Haiti without paying World Cup prices. 

The city is partnering with the North Shore Haitian Association to host its first World Cup event, a Team Haiti watch party, sponsored by the Mayor’s Office and Essex County District Attorney’s Office on June 19.

The watch party for the Haiti vs Brazil match is intended to provide residents with an affordable way to experience the excitement of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will bring seven of its games to Gillette Stadium, where ticket prices could start as low as $400 and get as high as $14,000. 

“A big part of it is to make sure that people who want to get involved have an opportunity to do it, that is pretty inclusive, and they don’t necessarily have to go out to further communities when they can do that in their own home,” City Councilor Cardeliz Paez said. 

The city-wide viewing party will take place at City Hall at 8:30 p.m., featuring the best pairing of cultural expression: sports and food. 

Local Haitian business owners Emmanuel “Pepe” Nicolas of M&M Flames Catering and Regine Romelus of Mondy’s Kitchen are coordinating the event’s food offerings, bringing together a team of Haitian chefs to prepare traditional dishes for attendees.

“We have a lot of talented Haitian cooks who are going to come together to collaborate to make sure we have a nice home-culture meal that evening,” Nicolas said. 

Mayor Jared Nicholson is urging locals to share their plans with each other to encourage more community engagement. “I encourage residents and visitors to patronize Lynn’s many fine restaurants and establishments offering great food and atmosphere during the matches.” 

The watch party is just the beginning of Lynn’s FIFA World Cup playoff. District Attorney Paul Tucker’s office has planned a soccer skills and drills event for local middle and high school students on June 27 at Manning Field. 

“We are happy to collaborate with the City of Lynn to offer this Skills & Drills clinic and contribute to the excitement of the community surrounding the World Cup,” Tucker said. “We hope this event will create a fun experience and offer the opportunity for young players and future soccer stars to celebrate the game while engaging on the field with their friends and peers.”

This event will be split into two age blocks, one for the middle schoolers and one for the high schoolers, Jon Thibault, Mayor’s chief of staff, said. 

“We have wanted to pull something together to provide our residents with opportunities to gather as a community,” Thibault said. 

The Mayor’s office has been working on a new website to help residents access information about the World Cup community events in Lynn. 

“We’re going to continue an effort to create a directional website for the city called ‘Visit Lynn’.” Councilor Paez said. “Right now, it needs a couple of updates, because it hasn’t been updated in two years, but we’re repurposing that website to make it a destination site for the city.” 

These initiatives were designed to advance Lynn’s objective of fostering accessible community unity, but the significance extends far beyond a simple soccer match for members of the Haitian community. 

“We’ve been the underdog, and not only as a sports team, but also as a country,” said Nicolas. “We’ve been going through a lot, but for this evening, for all of us to come and celebrate together, that’s huge.”