Tag Archives: Fan Fest

Cape Town scores on first two World Cup matches

The City of Cape Town has described the hosting of the first two World Cup matches at Cape Town Stadium as “without any major hitches”, and has expressed its satisfaction with the overall smooth running of the events, and the “good jol” enjoyed by the fans.

Mondays’ match between Italy and Paraguay had all the potential to go off the skids, with pouring rain, hail and freezing cold weather before and during the match, as well as a strike by the staff of Stallion Security prior to the start of the match.  The soccer fans dressed warmly, and barely complained about the weather on Twitter, despite estimates that the temperatures had dropped to below zero inside the Stadium.  They were barely aware that a strike had been threatened, and that the police had brought in SA Police Services (SAPS) students, with World Cup volunteers also helping in providing security services.

The match on Monday was attended by 62869 spectators, 17670 of them walking along the fan walk to the stadium, and 18 500 walking back to the city centre.   The new MyCiTi shuttle to the Stadium was used by 15000 spectators, and 10 000 used it to get back to the city Civic Centre.   The train service was used by 15000 fans.   The park-and-ride service at Century City and at UCT were the two most highly used such facilities.   A significant number of fans used their cars to get into the city, probably due to the weather, and this caused a big traffic gridlock on roads into the city, especially on the Eastern Boulevard.  The adverse weather also led to reduced attendance at the five Fan Fest areas.

Last Friday’s match between France and Uruguay attracted 61400 spectators.   The rail service was used by 20000 spectators, 11000 used the MyCiTi shuttle bus service and 30000 walked the Fan Mile to get to the Stadium.   The Fan Park on the Grand Parade had to be closed, with 42 000 visitors throughout the day. It is estimated that 250 000 persons visited the city center, and 100 000 the V&A Waterfront on that day. 

The City of Cape Town has requested that soccer fans make their way to the Stadium as early as they can (gates open 3,5 hours prior to the start of a match) and to travel light, to reduce the security search time.  Information can be found on the City’s website www.capetown.gov.za or by calling tel. 0800 65 64 63.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

African FIFA Final Draw show disappoints

Given the amount of effort that was put into the production of the FIFA Final Draw show, which was broadcast to 700 million viewers in 200 countries, the one hour show was disappointing, and an opportunity lost for the marketing of Cape Town and South Africa, reflecting an ueber-African theme.   Local producer George Mazarakis’ claim that this would be the best Final Draw production did not live up to his promise.

While the footage on Sky News showed that the entrance to the Cape Town International Convention Centre was beautifully decorated with murals depicting various aspects of Cape Town, including a huge Table Mountain and other iconic visuals, and real proteas, there was no visual representation of Cape Town or the country inside the show venue, the stage being largely bare, with only the screen, the podium, and the very valuable World Cup in front of it.

Video after video was shown, largely telling the story of the FIFA World Cup.   Another showed the readiness and preparation by the hospitality industry for the big event, with not one white person featured in it at all!   Johnny Clegg was the only white performer of the show.   The visuals in the video showed some wildlife, but none of the other beautiful highlights of Cape Town or the rest of the country was shown.  The sound for Angelique Kidjo’s performance was atrocious, but improved by the time the Grammy-award winning Soweto Gospel Choir performed.

Zakumi, the 2010 World Cup mascot, looked silly, and is not an asset to the event. 

The Draw itself was presented by ‘Lady in Red” Charlize Theron, whose sole role was to look pretty next to serious Jerome Valcke, Secretary-General of FIFA.  Theron, whose dress was designed by local designer Gavin Rajah, gushed about her pride in “our country”.  Valcke said “We are ready,  South Africa is ready”, to great applause.  Speaking far too quickly, Valcke tried to explain how the complicated Draw works, and how the “geographic separation” had to be created.   This was achieved by having 8 “pots”, from which the teams playing against the 8 seeded teams (Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England and South Africa) were randomly selected by David Beckham, South African Springbok rugby captain John Smit and cricketer Makhaya Ntini (what were they doing at a soccer event?), Bafana Bafana’s Matthew Booth, and Olympic medallist Haile Gebrselassie.

The eight groups for the 2010 World Cup are the following:

Group A:  South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, and France

Group B:   Argentina, Korea Republic, Nigeria and Greece

Group C:  England, USA, Algeria and Slovenia

Group D: Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia

Group E: The Netherlands, Japan, Cameroon, and Denmark

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, Slovakia, and New Zealand

Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Ivory Coast and Portugal

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile

Eight matches will be played in the new Cape Town Stadium, on the following dates and times:

11 June  France versus Uruguay at 8.30 pm

14 June: Italy versus Paraguay  at 8.30 pm

18 June: England versus Algeria at 8.30 pm 

21 June: Portugal versus Korea DPR at 1.30 pm

24 June : Cameroon versus The Netherlands at 8.30 pm

29 June:  winner of first group H and second group G, at 8.30 pm

3 July : quarter-final at 4 pm

6 July:  semi-final at 8.30 pm

Capetonians who joined the Fan Fest at the top of Long Street probably had the most fun, in partying the night away to music greats such as Coda, Freshlyground and more.   It is estimated that a crowd of 50 000 enjoyed itself, and entrance to more party-goers had to be barred.    Sky News broadcast from Long Street prior to the start of the Final Draw. 

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www,whalecottage.com

FIFA Fanfare Friday focus on Cape Town

The world’s eyes will be on Cape Town tomorrow, when the FIFA Final Draw takes place at 19h30 in the Cape Town International Convention Centre.   More than 700 million TV viewers in more than 200 countries are expected to watch the Final Draw, which is hugely important as it determines which of the 32 teams play against each other, and where these matches will take place.

A huge upsurge in ticket sales is expected after tomorrow’s Final Draw, when soccer fans choose which matches they book tickets for and which teams they want to see play.  A new wave of ticket sales starts on Saturday, with low-priced tickets at R 140 still available to South Africans.

More than 5 000 media, FIFA officials, team coaches and VIP’s will attend the Final Draw at the Convention Centre.  Charlize Theron, Oscar actress and originally from South Africa, is one of the presenters, while David Beckham, Pele, Archbishop Tutu, Past President FW de Klerk, Franz Beckenbauer and President Zuma will also be present. 

The Executive Producer for the Final Draw, South African George Mazarakis, says that it would be the best FIFA Final Draw ever.    He said that “the event would showcase not only South Africa’s ability to deliver a successful World Cup, but that it would also celebrate Africa’s humanity, reports the Cape Argus.   “The final draw is more than just a TV show, it’s a celebration of football and Africa” he said.

A stage of 40 meters wide, and 8 meters tall, which took 5 000 hours to build, will be filmed by 18 cameras.   The set was almost predominantly made in Cape Town.  More than 3 000 locals are involved in the production.  Entertainers performing at the Final Draw are the Soweto Gospel Choir, Angelique Kidjo and Johnny Clegg. 

The weather forecast looks favourable for tomorrow, with lovely blue skies, ensuring good scenery shots for Cape Town.   This is Cape Town’s biggest international marketing event ever, only to be capped by the semi-final for the 2010 World Cup in July.

At the mountain end of Long Street a stage will be set up, on which local bands will perform, and large TV screens will broadcast the Final Draw.   More than 15 000 Fan Fest revellers are expected to enjoy the celebration, at which Freshlyground, Jimmy Dludlu, Coda and other musicians will play.

Access into and out of the city tomorrow is expected to be a nightmare, with numerous road closures near the Convention Centre, and around Long Street.   On Sunday evening 100 000 Capetonians came to see the switching on of the Christmas Lights, and this caused traffic anarchy in the city center.  No traffic police were visible on that evening, and pedestrians took over the street lanes, which clogged up all vehicle movement.

The FIFA VIP’s have been entertained this week, with a lunch yesterday on Signal Hill, with a spectacular view onto the new Cape Town Stadium, and a 5-jet formation flyover put on for them.   A dinner party was hosted by Premier Helen Zille in her official residence, and the FIFA executive committee is meeting on Robben Island today.   Journalists will be treated to a media gathering at Maiden’s Cove between Camps Bay and Clifton, and one hopes that the weather gods will switch off the southeaster on that day!

Disappointingly, very little FIFA World Cup branding is visible in the city – a huge banner is visible on the Westin Grand Hotel, at which FIFA President Sepp Blatter is staying with his entourage.  Eight Adidas footballs have been set up near the Caltex garage at the entrance to the Waterfront, and tiny VISA flags are visible in the Waterfront.   The lamp pole banners on Buitengracht Street are boring, and one can barely see the FIFA 2010 World Cup logo on them. 

Grant Thornton Strategic Solutions estimates that 480 000 foreign soccer fans will attend the 2010 World Cup, and will generate R 8,5 billion for South Africa, generating a benefit of R 11,5 billion for the country’s economy.    The consultancy expects 50 % of the tickets to be sold to locals, and the balance to international soccer fans.  About 18 000 journalists are expecetd  next year and 26 million soccer fans will view the World Cup on TV.   The largest number of international tickets have been sold to the USA (360 565), the UK (481 184), Germany (25 060) and Australia (17 848), reports the Cape Argus.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio www.whalecottage.com