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The World Cup is in town, but why go to Gillette when you can catch a game right here with your neighbors?

Burlington’s Economic Development Office has secured a $15,000 grant from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism to bring FIFA World Cup 2026 viewing events to Burlington. And two local restaurants are getting in on the action.

Tony C’s (17 3rd Ave.) and Common Craft (Burlington Mall) will host Watch the World events this June. The town will partner with these venues, which already have the infrastructure and licensing to broadcast matches, and use the grant to expand outdoor viewing capacity, transforming the familiar hangout spots into watch party destinations.

Community activities hosted alongside the matches, like library talks, a soccer showcase and clinic, costume contests, and a hacky sack hangout, will provide additional opportunities to engage and draw even more members of the community together around the world’s biggest sporting event.

The goal, says Economic Development Director Melisa Tintocalis, is as much about placemaking as it is about soccer. “It’s about increasing business activity,” she said, “reinforcing hubs that are our economic engine.”

The health of Burlington’s business sector is vital to the financial health of the town, supporting local services while providing amenities to those who come to Burlington for work and bringing visitors in from around the region to experience what the town has to offer.

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Watch the World is the visible, celebratory face of a much larger effort. Behind the scenes, Burlington is investing $2 million in state and federal grants — including a $1 million MassWorks grant and a $1 million federal earmark secured by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton — to transform the Middlesex Tpk.-Mall Rd. area into a multimodal network that works for people on foot and on bikes, not just the 25,000 cars that use it every day.

A conceptual plan developed by engineering firm VHB will go before the Planning Board and the Select Board this summer, and the design portion of the project will soon begin. This kind of work takes time, but the full vision could be realized within the next decade.

For over half a century, Burlington has been a bustling suburban town with a lot going on. Today, officials are working to increase opportunities for genuine connection. From a watch party on a restaurant patio to a safer walk under an overpass, it’s all part of the same idea: a town that’s worth showing up for, worth staying in, and worth building toward.

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