Fan Zone EURO 2012 in Donetsk: Football Festival and Wild Prices (Photo)

Fan Zone in Donetsk is ready to receive Euro 2012 fans even today. At several last days, one can notice that it has changed and turned into a zone of the football festival.

Fan Zone is located near the Central Park of Culture and Leisure named after A.S. Scherbakov, where everyone, citizens and visitors, can come to support the favourite football team. 

Donetsk officials promised that the official opening of Fan Zone will be held on June 11, two hours before the match between France and England, but it is opened for fans even today, so that they have the opportunity to watch the match in Warsaw between Poland and Greece here. Then they can watch another one between Russia and the Czech Republic at 9.45 pm, which will be held at the stadium "Meyski" in Polish Wroclaw.

To view the matches of Euro 2012 in Fan Zone there are three big screens.

The admission is free, however, there are some limitations. So, you are not allowed to bring along umbrellas, professional cameras, animals, big bags and other items specified at the entrance to Fan Zone. Visitors can leave all prohibited items in the cloakrooms. The security of Fan Zone makes visitors open their bags and show the contents. As well, it is not allowed to come with containers of any drinks, even for parents with children. The correspondent of "OstroV" witnessed that the security of Fan Zone did not allow a mother with a child to carry a 250-gram plastic bottle with water with themselves, "because it is under a ban."

At the same time in the territory of Fan Zone the water is sold for 8 UAH (0.5 litres), beer costs 15-19 UAH, kvass is 12 UAH for 0.5 litres, any ice cream is 15 UAH, "Cola", "Fanta", "Sprite" costs 10 UAH for 0.5 litres. A plastic cup of any kind of coffee made by automatic machine (110 gram) is offered for the same price that is 10 UAH. Chocolate bars cost at the average 10-15 UAH.

To ensure the safety of public order about 50 police officers work here, the ambulance is on duty. 

Here about 100 volunteers, students of various universities in Donetsk, are employed as well, they provide information support. Some volunteers assured the correspondent of "OstroV" that they speak English, German and even Polish fluently, so there will be no language barrier. It is noteworthy that there are volunteers from the Medical University who are ready to provide their aid, the first medical aid as well.

Beer will be enough for all fans. Pay cash down!

To enter VIP-zone you have to pay 200 hryvnias per a person at non-match days. At days of matches held in Donetsk, the price is even higher. The price includes some meals and beverages. However, here the workers could not tell us what the client receives exactly for this money. Just it is known that one can sit at the table.

Representatives of Fan Zone state that in its territory the fans will not be bored, before the match there will be entertainment events, the guests will watch the performances of Donetsk singing and dancing groups, there will be various competitions.

For example, the network of construction and household hypermarkets "Epicenter" being one of the national sponsors of Euro 2012 has created several mini-workshops, where everyone could take part in national crafts making for free. One could either do a clay toy, or a traditional Ukrainian doll called motanka that is made by winding cloth layers without sewing, or paint a picture on the easel by oneself, or model a funny figure of the bright coloured plasticine.

Participants in these activities were very excited, so the more because next to each table in the workshop there was an assistant being an artist, an amateur, a decorator, telling and showing what and how to do. Here, the animators on the "Children's little stadium" were entertaining kids with games, while their parents were enjoying decorative art.

Some will dance...

Other will amuse with cheerful chastushkas...

Mini-field for playing football.

In the territory the souvenirs with the championship logo are represented, but the prices are ready to "tear" an ordinary fan. For example, a professional football costs 1 300 hryvnias, T-shirts with the logo and colours of national teams is 250-300 UAH, trinkets are 50 UAH. To buy a baseball cap you will have to pay 200 hryvnias, and for a scarf you should pay 150 UAH.

The unpresentable building of the former cinema had to be “curtained off”.

There is a lavatory, as well, for people with disabilities.

Meanwhile, in another central part of the city there are also made some preparations to receive guests. Near the stadium "Donbass Arena" there the marquees, which are the so-called welcoming zone for VIP-guests and UEFA representatives, are installed.

The whole welcoming area is enclosed by metal fence. Apparently, it is done to make the guests stay out from the places “they are not allowed to”...

Preparing souvenirs...

In Donetsk the information points, where volunteers work, show their readiness. If in the morning there were only magazines, so after the afternoon they brought up other items. Among them one could find the city map in English, brochures with a list of hotels, restaurants, theatres, medical centres, and even a bilingual repertoire of Donetsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after A. B. Solovyanenko and many more items "that should stand somebody on good stead”.

“OstroV”