MetLife Stadium hosts the World Cup final 15 minutes away by car in East Rutherford on July 19. Montclair has its own front-row seat to the tournament too. At 1 Lackawanna Plaza, Lackawanna Station has been running a free, 39-day World Cup festival called Summer of Soccer since June 11, with live broadcasts of 88 matches running through July 19.
No tickets. No cover. Just show up.
The Watch Parties Are Just the Start
The Big Room, Lackawanna’s main event space, has become full match-day central. Giant screens, themed food and drinks from the station’s resident vendors, live music, games and country-themed celebrations tied to whoever is playing fill the room for every match, from the group stage already underway to the final.
What makes it different from a sports bar is the scale and the intent. Organizers describe it as a cultural experience as much as a viewing party, built around the idea that soccer is not just a game in Montclair but a reflection of the town itself, a place where each of the 48 nations playing in this tournament has some community connection.
Beyond the matches themselves, Summer of Soccer has built various standalone events into the 39-day run: panel discussions with athletes, coaches, journalists and local advocates, plus wellness sessions and youth and adult coaching clinics run by Hawks FC. The full calendar is available on their website, but two events this week give a sense of the range.
On Saturday, June 20 Latinos of Montclair hosts a Family Game Watch Party from 7 to 10 p.m., with a live DJ during breaks and certified instructors running soccer clinics for kids on site. A similar adult-focused soccer clinic with Hawks FC is scheduled on June 23.
The run builds toward July 12, when the station hosts an International Food & Dance Festival, a full-day event featuring food vendors, cultural organizations and dance ensembles representing traditions from around the world. The festival is one of 34 organizations statewide that received a New Jersey World Cup Community Initiative grant, part of a $5 million program funded by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and administered by Choose New Jersey.
Lackawanna Spent a Decade Empty. This Summer It’s the Center of Town.
All of this is happening inside a building that sat empty for years, which is part of why Summer of Soccer matters beyond this summer.
The station, built in 1913 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, sat vacant for roughly a decade after its Pathmark closed in 2015. BDP Holdings, led by Montclair resident David Placek, bought the property in February 2021 and reopened it in June 2025 as an indoor market with more than 20 small businesses, a monthly flea market and an arts initiative.
That redevelopment cleared a major hurdle in March, when the town council voted 6-1 to approve a 30-year payment in lieu of taxes agreement, known as a PILOT, unlocking plans for more than 300 apartments, a large grocery store and expanded commercial space. Construction is not imminent, but the deal signals the waiting is closer to over than it has been in years.
Summer of Soccer is the largest thing the revived station has taken on, a test of whether the building can work as a genuine community anchor rather than a placeholder.
For more on the Lackawanna redevelopment, read The Future of Lackawanna: Small Business, Housing, and Historic Preservation and Montclair Council Approves 30-Year PILOT for Lackawanna Plaza.
The Details: Free, Walkable and Running Through the Final
Summer of Soccer runs every day through July 19, and every event is free and open to the public. The full match calendar, including watch party themes and special events, is at summerofsoccermontclairnj.com.
Whether it’s one match or all 88, Summer of Soccer is happening right now, just steps from the train. Check the schedule, pick a match and show up.
