Port Elizabeth - Despite it being in one of the smaller centres, the FIFA Fan Fest in Port Elizabeth has attracted the third most visitors during the first two weeks of the World Cup.

"After the second week, we ranked third in the country based on attendance," said local Fan Fest director Glenn van Eck. By last Friday evening 150 000 people had passed through the turnstiles at St George's Park.

Of the 10 official sites countrywide - one for each Host City - only those in Durban and Cape Town had outperformed the one in PE.

According to FIFA totals, the parks in Sandton and Soweto ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

While Cape Town naturally had a bigger pool to draw from, Durban's mild winter weather had attracted a large proportion of the international visitors, according to Van Eck.

The Fan Fest concept originated in Korea in 2002 and was expanded on in Germany four years later to what we currently have in South Africa. "The idea is to give people an opportunity to view the games when the stadium is full."

A second component, which has been added to enhance the overall experience, is the entertainment between matches. The final element, said Van Eck, was to provide a way for the public to share in the festivities and atmosphere of out-of-town matches.

"Furthermore, it also gives fans that may not have the financial means to share in the World Cup, an opportunity to do so."

Van Eck said, effectively, each Fan Fest was linked to a stadium, which brings one back to the core reason for their existence - to cater for the overflow.

He said the profile of the teams, the entertainment on offer and the weather played a part in daily attendance figures. "These factors are interlinked."

Attendance in the Friendly City peaked at 29 000 on the opening day with the lowest daily total around 2 500.

Bafana Bafana's games were the best attended with just over 16 000 people watching their opening effort against Mexico, 10 500 the match against Uruguay and 13 000 their victory over France.

The encounter between Brazil and Portugal drew a crowd of 6 500 with another 6 500 coming specifically to watch Just Jinjer in concert on the same day.

In the first two weeks, the 20 000-mark was breached twice, 10 000 four times and only four days had fewer than 5 000 attendees.

Van Eck said the elements mostly had the final say. "There is a direct correlation between the weather and attendance during weeks one and two."

He said turnstiles enabled the operators to monitor the real-time attendance figures for specific matches and performers.

Source: BuaNews   

Port Elizabeth - The honours were roughly shared between football and the evening's featured artists as to which the main attractions were on Friday evening's programme at the FIFA Fan Fest in Port Elizabeth.

It was perhaps an evening for symmetry as just under 6 000 fans watched the World Cup's most anticipated match thus far - Brazil versus Portugal - which played out to a nil-nil draw on the giant big screen at St George's Park.

Self-proclaimed football fanatic Zingiswa Mnikina, 29, from Algoa Park in Nelson Mandela Bay, said she came specifically to watch the two matches that were to be broadcast live.

"I wasn't even aware of the other entertainment. It's such a bonus and now I can't wait to see Just Jinjer for real."

Mnikina, who has "adopted" Brazil after Bafana Bafana's early exit, said she was hoping to see the suspended Kaka weave his magic.

"I was so disappointed when he got yellow-carded again. Brazil is really missing his flair," she said, adding that she has never seen the multiple world champions having to defend so much.

However, their solid defence was one of the reasons why she rated them as the favourites to lift the cup on July 11. "It's very important to have a good defence in tournaments of this stature and today they have shown that there are no holes at the back."

In Mnikina's opinion, Bafana had acquitted themselves "very well" of their task, but she had a message for their outgoing coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira.

"It was a mistake to under use a player like Siyabona Nomvete. He would've taken a lot of pressure off during the early part of the tournament."

Nineteen-year-old Christian Simpson, from Walmer in PE, said he had definitely come for the football and the "awesome vibe" and he was pleased to see Portugal hold Brazil to a draw.

Grahamstown student Danielle Rijs said she was at the Fan Fest for both the football and the entertainment. The 18-year-old supported Portugal and, more specifically, player "number 23".

She said she would leave the arena for supper and rush back for the Just Jinjer concert and the live broadcast of the match between Spain and Chile. "I saw them (Just Jinjer) perform in December and they were pretty good."

Source: BuaNews