Hours before the first game of Euro 2008 in the Swiss city of Basle, the Vienna fan zone was filling only slowly with fans after its
opening on Saturday.
The area along the Ringstrasse, a boulevard circling the Vienna city centre,
attracted just over 9,000 fans and curious onlookers between 1000 and 1630
local time, a spokesperson told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Only a few hundred onlookers watched as the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra and the
Vienna Boys Choir offered the first live music performance of the day.
The 100,000 square metre area has space for 47,000 fans and is to be formally
inaugurated by Vienna Mayor Michael Haeupl later on Saturday.
The opening of the fan zones in Salzburg and Klagenfurt, two other of Austria's host cities, were similarly low-key, Austrian news agency APA reported. A concert
in Klagenfurt attracted only 1,000 guests on Friday, Salzburg experienced a
Saturday "like any other," an organizer told APA.
Only Innsbruck boasted a more lively reception of the coming European
championships, with a concert by Austrian pop star Christin Stuermer on Friday
night.
Vienna and Klagenfurt will face their first real tests Sunday, when football
aficionados are expected to flock to fan zones to watch the first matches
taking place on Austrian ground.
Austria will face Croatia in Vienna in the first Sunday game, with Germany
playing against Poland in Klagenfurt later in the evening, dpa reported.
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