ORLANDO – October 13, 2014 – As the City Beautiful prepares for the highly anticipated groundbreaking of the new Downtown home of the Orlando City Soccer Club, details continue to emerge about the unique once-in-a-lifetime celebration scheduled for Thursday evening, October 16. Fans will begin to gather at Church Street Station at 5:30 p.m.

Mark Abbott, president of Major League Soccer, will attend the festivities on Thursday, participating alongside fans and dignitaries.

The Club also announced today that, in true Orlando City fashion, the ceremonial dig will take place in purple sand - over 24 tons of purple sand to be exact. The violet-hued sand will be delivered to the site Thursday morning and placed into a specially constructed box where the first dig will take place.

The groundbreaking celebration is open to all, and fans who attend will receive a unique gift to remember this day: a clear miniature Orlando City commemorative paint can which they can take use to scoop up and take home some of the purple sand from the event. Fans can register for the souvenir by clicking here.

Below is a full schedule of events for Thursday evening:

5:30 p.m. – Fans gather at Church Street Station
6:15 p.m. – March begins from Church Street to groundbreaking site
~6:45 p.m. – Formal groundbreaking event begins
~7:20 p.m. – Ceremonial dig

Additional details of the groundbreaking will be announced over the coming days. Be sure to get the latest updates by following Orlando City via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Join the event on Facebook by clicking here!