Dorianne Arendse
A whopping 72,910 people made use of the fan walk to walk to and from the stadium on the Thursday night for the fifth FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup match played at the Cape Town stadium on Thursday evening. According to the City of Cape Town's media manager, Kylie Hatton the fan walk has been one of the greatest features of the World Cup to date.
"The fan walks is one of the great successes of the World Cup for the City of Cape Town. People have really enjoyed walking along it. We were worried in the beginning with it being a 2.5km walk that some people might complain about it being too long. We have had no complaints about its length, in fact people have thoroughly enjoyed the different characters that they can see on the fan walk," she explained.
Entertainment
Hatton said on match days at the Cape Town stadium they have a number of entertainers that people can watch while walking. "We have some art displays from artist across Cape Town. We also have some lovely food stalls were people can buy food on their way to and from the stadium. We also have drinks available at the local restaurants if people want to pop in as well. The fan walk has really become a huge part of the world cup experience."
According to Hatton, the weather has also had a great influence on the number of people that use the fan walk and the MyCiti shuttle service to get to and from the stadium on match days. "With the pleasant winter evening on Thursday we estimate there were over 100,000 people on and around the fan walk during the day. Prior to Thursday's match at the stadium the highest number of people recorded on the fan walk was 45,400 which was on 11 June 2010," said Hatton.
She said that the City is seeing an increasing number of people coming to the city's public areas to experience the World Cup and to be part of the festivities on match days even though they do not have tickets for the game. She added that the fan walk is being used by soccer fans that do not have tickets for the matches at the Cape Town stadium.
Open Fanfests
According to Hatton a national decision was taken to open all the FIFA FanFest in the country two hours later as there will be no games played at 13:30. "A national decision has been made to open all the FIFA FanFest in the country two hours later as no more 13:30 games will be played from the round of 16 stage of the tournament onwards.
"The FIFA FanFest on the Grand Parade will be open from 1pm to 11pm every day and not from 11am to 11pm. The City's four fan jols at Vygieskraal, Swartklip, the Bellville Velodrome and OR Tambo will also be open from 1pm to 11pm on Tuesday 29 June for the round of 16 match at the Cape Town stadium as well as on all remaining Cape Town match days and quarter-final, semi-final and final game days," Hatton said.
She reminded spectators to arrive early at the stadium or public viewing areas in order to be in time for the match. "Stadium gates open three and half hours before kick off and early arrival prevents congestion at the stadium's entrance gats. Fans are advised to travel light as security checks take longer when staff have to search large handbags and rucksacks. Rain jackets should be used when necessary, as umbrellas may not be taken into the stadium," said Hatton.
When asked about the security at the stadium, Hatton replied that security was overseen by the Local Organizing Committee and not the City. "In terms of safety and security at the stadiums, safety and security is control by the FIFA Local Organizing Committee, so you would have to speak to them about the security arrangements. In terms of overall security the City has been very pleased with the way in which the event has gone ahead thus far. We have had very minor incidents and we are very pleased with that," she said.
Hatton also urged residents and visitors to continue using public transport to travel to and from the stadium or the public viewing areas on match days.
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