Cape Town - Excitement has gripped Capetonians and the rest of the world ahead of this evening's highly anticipated 2010 FIFA World Cup Final Draw.

With hundreds of people dressed in Bafana Bafana shirts, the Mother City has been painted green and gold as it prepares for the city's biggest showcase.

More than 15 000 revellers are expected to gather at the Long Street festival, for the preview of next year's FIFA Fan Fest Stage in the Grand Parade.

Upper Long Street, from Wale to Buitnsigel Streets, will be converted into a festival zone for the Final Draw with enormous big screens placed around the party stretch of the Mother City.

Artists like Freshly Ground, Jimmy Dludla, Cassettee, TKZee, Francy Galanda and others are expected to entertain thousands of people ahead of the draw.

Cape Town 2010 spokesperson, Pieter Cronje said the Long Street festival area will have a video link to the city's International Convention Centre's Red Carpet Welcome.

"The main stage will be situated at the Long Street baths, with several huge television screens further down towards Wale Street. The stage performance will be complemented by buskers to embrace the festival theme.

"The festivities will start at noon with music and cultural performances with a South African and African flavor.

"Entrance to the festival is free and we expect thousands of Capetonians to congregate at Long Street to share in the world's excitement of the draw," he said.

Although the festivities will start at noon, the real action is only expected to pick-up from 5pm when local residents take off their stuffy work clothes and put on their dancing shoes.

The concert of Cape Town talent will commence at noon to 2pm, thereafter, the FIFA Fan Fest Project will be launched by FIFA President Sepp Blatter at 2:30pm..

A magnificent Draw Hall and stage fit for a king stands ready to play host to the dramatic proceedings.
It's taken 3 600 hours of manpower to set up the sprawling Draw Hall and 950 square metres of timber to construct the stunning African-inspired Draw stage.
Twenty seven of the 32 coaches have confirmed their attendance, including Brazil's Dunga, Portugal's Carlos Queiroz, England's Fabio Capello, Italy's Marcello Lippi, Spain's Vicente Del Bosque and of course South Africa's Carlos Alberto Parreira.
President Jacob Zuma is expected to address the draw while former President Nelson Mandela is expected to address the crowd through video message. South African Academy Award winner Charlize Theron will be one of the guest presenters who will assist FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke.

By Lungani Makeleni

Cape Town - While the City of Cape Town awaits FIFA’s approval for its choice of the Grand Parade as its premier 2010 World Cup fanpark site, planning is well advanced to turn it into a venue of which all Capetonians can be proud.

“The R20 million already committed to the project, the city can look forward to a multi-functional venue that will be significantly better than what we have at present,” said Mr Piet van Zyl, who is the City’s Executive Director: Strategy and Planning.

“The need for an upgrade was obvious and, in 2006, the city’s Spatial Planning, Urban Design Department and Cape Town Partnership started a public participation process that has included three public meetings and a public opinion survey,” Mr van Zyl said.

The Spatial Planning and Urban Design Department then motivated and received funding for the appointment of a consortium of consultants to assist with the design and technical requirements of the proposed upgrade.