Thousands of Tartan Army members flooded Boston this month for Scotland’s matches against Haiti and Morocco, marking the team’s first World Cup appearance since 1998.
It’s no surprise that Scotland’s passionate fans have left their mark on Boston—quite literally.
From fans rallying through Fenway Park after Scotland’s historic win, chanting “Flower of Scotland,” to bagpipes sounding at 6 a.m. and local bars running out of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Bostonians have been treated to true Scottish pride. Fortunately, locals seem to have taken a major liking to their transatlantic visitors.
Navigating expensive hotels and a tight short-term rental market can be daunting for global travelers. Yet Boston stood out by offering warmth and resourcefulness during the FIFA World Cup.
“I feel like it’s a perfect match. Boston and Scotland, we got the same sort of humor and we all like to party,” Scottish musician Callum Beattie told CBS Boston.
Cones and chaos
One of the most prominent cultural traditions the Tartan Army brought to New England is placing large, orange traffic cones on the heads of famous Boston statues. Locals quickly noticed these bright cone hats appearing on the Paul Revere Statue, the Make Way for Ducklings statue, and many others.
The practice dates back to the 1980s, when Scottish revelers began scaling the statue of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, in Glasgow to crown him and his horse, Copenhagen, with cones.
While the Glasgow City Council initially tried to remove the “vandalism,” more cones kept popping up in their place.
“Now it’s just our famous statue with a cone on its head. Lots of tourists come to take pictures of it, so that’s why everyone’s doing it to your statues here,” Billy McKechnie, a Tartan Army member, explained in an interview with CBS News.
Local residents have fully embraced the chaos.
“Even if we don’t have the World Cup, they should still come back every year,” one Bostonian said in a Boston 25 News clip.
“If I can bring all the Scots here … I would, in a heartbeat,” another said.
From sliding down the famous Boston Cop Slide to trying Moxie soda for the first time, fans fully immersed themselves in local lore. Despite the rowdy celebrations, they made sure to pay respect to their host city.
“I’m one person cleaning after them, man, and it ain’t that bad. … They like our city, so I’m happy they came,” one Boston city worker said in an NBC Boston video clip.
The mutual love affair between Boston and Scotland has gone so far that Boston Mayor Michelle Wu initiated the process to establish an official sister-city relationship with Glasgow. The announcement was fittingly made at The Haven, a popular Scottish pub in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood.
“We are both cities that are champions of arts, culture, and innovation, but we are also both willing to fight for it,” Wu said in an NBC article.
So, what other cities are matching Boston’s World Cup hospitality?
Realtor.com® has identified the top U.S. cities where the local community isn’t just tolerating the massive influx of tourists—they are actively welcoming them and throwing the party of a lifetime.
Spreading World Cup fever to Rhode Island
Due to the massive influx of visitors and Boston’s steep hotel prices, many Scottish fans headed to Providence, RI, to set up camp.
“This has been one of the most fun eight days in the city of Providence in a long time, and that is due in no small part to our new best friends from Scotland,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told WJAR.
To show their appreciation, Scottish fans donated $10,000 to Hasbro Children’s Hospital, $6,500 to the Rhode Island Highlanders Pipe Band, and $5,000 to the “Tartan Trek” for men’s mental health.
“We hope to leave a place a little better than we found it. We try to give something back to the community that hosts us,” Scottish fan Ian Cox said.
Philadelphia
Philadelphia has hosted four World Cup matches so far: Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador on June 14, Brazil vs. Haiti on June 19, France vs. Iraq on June 22, and Curacao vs. Ghana on June 25.
The city experienced some high-volume enthusiasm during the second match, when thousands of fans gathered at the iconic Philadelphia Museum of Art steps for a massive pregame rally.
“Visitors from around the globe have brought incredible energy to Center City, and our team in teal has been ready to welcome them every step of the way,” Center City District President and CEO Prema Katari Gupta said in a press release. “From helping visitors navigate the city to distributing nearly 30,000 maps, we’re helping people discover more of Philadelphia.”
Ecuadorian fan Daniel Andrade told Fox News that he was completely “in love” with the city, while Reuters captured viral footage of Brazilian fans trying their first classic Philly cheesesteaks.
“Philadelphia has spent years preparing for this moment, and over the past week, we have seen the best of our city on display,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said. “From welcoming visitors to keeping people safe, Philadelphians have shown the hospitality, service, and pride that define our city. We are grateful for their efforts and excited about everything still to come.”
Philadelphia’s next match will take place on June 27.
Seattle
Ranked by The Athletic as having the top World Cup stadium, Lumen Field, Seattle is easily defining itself as one of the friendliest U.S. World Cup cities.
Simon Hughes from The Athletic wrote he “cannot think of a stadium in the world that feels so connected to the city it belongs to.”
Michelle Esteban from KOMO News noted that the fans she talked to “are talking about just how the city has really responded and embraced this, really been very hospitable to folks that are coming into town, making people feel safe.”
During the USA vs. Australia match on June 19, over 15,000 American fans and 8,000 Australian fans marched through the streets together in a massive joint rally. A nearby watch party in Bellevue kept the momentum going.
“It was a great community celebration,” Jesse Canedo, Bellevue’s chief economic development officer, said in an article from The Seattle Times. “It felt like a neighborhood block party, with people wandering through, lots of neighbors saying ‘hello.’ Which is exactly what we were going for.”
But Seattle isn’t just ranking at the top for venues, it’s also for bar crawls.
Bradley Howe, owner of the Kangaroo and Kiwi pub, revealed that all the Australian fans made him run out of beer, getting eight deliveries in four days, and even having to go on a Costco run when the delivery service couldn’t keep up with the demand.
”It’s been incredible, but this is what you live for when you open a bar,” Howe said in a Fox article. “You want craziness, you want people, you want fun, you want all the madness.”
Seattle’s next match will take place on July 1.
New Jersey/New York
New York is quickly ridding itself of its “unfriendly” stereotype during the World Cup.
Ahead of the Norway vs. Senegal match, hundreds of Norwegian fans gathered in the heart of Times Square to perform their traditional synchronized rowing chant, bringing the celebration and their culture to New York. They gathered again for the row when Norway beat Senegal 3-2 on the grass of the New York/New Jersey stadium.
The phenomenon became so popular that Norwegian fans were invited on “Good Morning America” for a live Viking row demonstration.
But Norwegian fans aren’t the only ones loving FIFA in the Big Apple. One Scottish fan praised New York City for its friendliness in a CBS interview.
“You hear a lot of things about it abroad. The reputation is it’s not very friendly, but everyone has been absolutely great to us,” he said. “Honestly, it’s all been happy surprises, the police have been good with us, the transport has been really good, people have paid for meals, people have paid for drinks. American hospitality is the greatest in the world.”
The New York-New Jersey stadium will host the FIFA Final on July 19.
Atlanta
As expected, Atlanta’s southern hospitality has won over the hearts of World Cup fans visiting for matches.
Martin Carrion from Ecuador said in an Atlanta News First article that he was “glad to see a bunch of people from all over the place. That’s what makes this great. Plus, a great city with a great atmosphere.”
Martin Resendz from Mexico described the city’s environment as “out of this world.”
However, perhaps none of them loved the city as much as German internet personality Freddy, according to Alive.
Traveling across the Atlantic for various World Cup matches, Freddy documented his first stop in Atlanta.
His viral posts showing him trying Waffle House and exploring the city gathered praise from American followers tired of seeing European tourists critique the U.S. online.
“So happy to see a European actually visit America and enjoy it while the snobbish homebody ones who have never stepped foot in this country derail it like they are experts,” one commenter said.
Atlanta’s last World Cup match will take place on June 27 between DR Congo and Uzbekistan.
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