Free World Cup watch parties on the Town Hall lawn drew international praise, Select Board members said this week.

SWAMPSCOTT --

COMMUNITY -- At the July 7 Select Board meeting, Town Administrator Nick Connors and board members highlighted the town's recent World Cup watch-party events on the Town Hall lawn, which overlapped with the Fourth of July weekend and the Strawberry Festival and parade. Connors said the festival drew "so many volunteers, vendors and even a World Cup game that happened to be happening at the same time," calling it "a great crowd and a great turnout."

One board member said he had seen "everywhere on Reddit... tons of praise for the World Cup games on the lawn," and that the town received an email from two visitors from Scotland who, unable to get to Foxborough for the tournament, said they were "very grateful" to watch matches "outside with the ocean in the background" and praised how the town welcomed visitors throughout the celebrations.