A feast of activities for Durbanites

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Durban - Durban residents who were not lucky enough to get tickets for the FIFA World Cup will get a chance to support Bafana Bafana during the month-long tournament.

A series of activities hosted at the Suncoast Casino and Entertainment Centre will take place to ensure that soccer lovers get a taste of World Cup fever.

The casino complex is in a favourable position to host such events because of its location - it is just a short stroll between the Moses Mabhida Stadium and the newly revamped beachfront.

According to the complex management, vuvuzelas will blow, giant inflatable soccer balls will be paraded and the soccer-themed art of local artists will come together during the next four weeks to celebrate the World Cup.

A carnival kickoff will get the ball rolling and a vuvuzela moment is scheduled for Wednesday at noon. Casino patrons will be urged to observe five minutes of madness as flags are flown and vuvuzelas, whistles and car horns blown across the country, in support of the national team.

On Friday 11 June, pre-match festivities in Durban will kick-off with the Hyundai Goodwill Ball Carnival hosted by Hyundai SA, a sponsor of the World Cup.

This is the culmination of the international Hyundai Goodwill Ball Road Shows which saw 32 giant inflatable balls travelling the globe for fans to sign messages of goodwill in support of the participating teams.

Standing 4m high, the 32 giant balls will be paraded in Durban from 10h30 on Friday, leaving Destination Market (the old Amphitheatre beachfront market) to wind their way to the finish spot at Suncoast Casino by 12pm.

The Suncoast Zone has also been transformed into a spectacular art gallery where the works of leading artists from each of the 32 participating nations will be displayed.

The 2010 Fine Art exhibition was launched at Suncoast last week and is open for free public viewing until 31 July, from 10am until 10pm.

Important information:

The easiest access route to reach Suncoast on match days will be via Blue Lagoon Drive. Guests are encouraged to arrive well in advance as the Suncoast parking lot will be filling up fast.

On Durban match days Club Festival members belonging to Suncoast's loyalty programme will receive free access to the parking area upon presentation of their Club Festival cards, while a R50 flat tariff applies to all other patrons.

On days where there are no Durban matches, the standard R5 flat rate applies