The Stanley Cup will appear at a free outdoor Fan Festival hosted by the National Hockey League, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 in conjunction with the league's annual Winter Classic game, matching the Seattle Kraken up against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park on New Year's Day, Noon PT.
The two-day outdoor fan festival, known as the Enterprise NHL Fan Village, will run similarly to Major League Baseball's All-Star Game fan festival this past summer in Seattle, is free of charge to the general public, who are required to RSVP at this link for admission. Fans in attendance will have viewing and photo opportunities with the trophy, along with hockey history museum exhibits, interactive hockey and gaming opportunities, a trading card exhibit, and a fan village bar.
Vince Granieri, the league's director of events, said that visitors tend to have one thing on their mind as soon as the gates open.
"There will be a line at the door starting at four o'clock when we open up on the 31st just to go see the cup and I'll tell you once we open our doors people literally run straight to the cup line," Granieri told 93.3 KJR-FM. "It's pretty cool seeing or hearing about the fans who get their their picture with the Cup."
The event is scheduled to open in the Lumen Field North Parking Lot, adjacent to T-Mobile Park, starting on Dec. 31 at approximately 4:30pm, around the end of that afternoon's Seahawks home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and open until 8:00pm.
Times are subject to change and the exhibit will open New Year's Eve under the conditions that the Seahawks 1:00pm kickoff isn't flexed to a later start time that day.
Regardless of conditions, the Fan Village will be open on New Year's Day, around the Winter Classic, from 9-11:30 am and after the game, from 3-7pm.
The attractions will also include a fan interactive exhibit using artificial intelligence to place photographs of attending fans on Winter Classic memorabilia, competitive stations featuring hardest shot, stick handling, goaltending, wrist shot challenges, personalized trading cards, and more.