Tours in Cape Town

Posts Tagged ‘Grand Parade’

Century City Station with Table Mountain in the background

Being a tourist guide one visits places with the people from other countries and sees what they see but as you are working you do not actually experience what the guests do.

This Wednesday when the Dutch were in town to support their team I took off my tourist guides badge and became a tourist in my own city.

There were a number of things I wanted to experience by doing that. Firstly public transport and especially the trains  as they have had a bad name mainly because of criminal elements on the trains  who rob passengers.

The local authorites in line with the world cup have upped security at railway stations and made it a whole lot safer to travel on them. Knowing this and previously having written about the MyCity buses and how good they were I wanted to experience first hand what people using the park and ride facilities would experience when they attended a match using public transport and the trains.

My lonely car in the Century City parking lot

My wife and I left home bright and early and arrived at the park and ride facility at Century City where we were the first people to be welcomed into the massive parking area. We left our car looking sad and forlorn and all alone in this massive parking area. In fact we were so early that the ferry buses had not yet arrived to ferry passengers to the station about two kilometres away.

As we normally do when going abroad we walk to where we want to be and so we walked the two kilometres to the station arriving just in time to catch the 11.45am train into the city. The cost of getting into the city and back by train was R13.00 a ticket plus R20.00 for parking in the park and ride area.

The train trip takes about 15 minutes to get into the city from Century City and everything went off very smoothly. On the Century City station  there were police officials watching over the station and once we arrived in Cape Town there were hundreds more. Not even a mouse would have dared to help himself to something for fear of being caught and locked up.

The newly refurbished Cape Town Station Councourse

Once off the train we made our way to the fan park through the refurbished and very clean station concourse and then to Darling Street where the entrance of the fanpark is.   Strand Street is open to traffic while all the other streets in close vicinity to the Grand Parade including Darling street are closed  and have  been turned intopedestrian malls. These  malls were lined with vendors selling world cup paraphernalia.

We arrived at the fan park early and settled ourselves down at a table where we enjoyed the atmosphere and something to eat. As we arrived the Dutch were starting to trickle in and it was not long before the fan park was turned orange by the their colourful outfits.

The big stage at the fanfest

On the big stage there was a concert in progress. For the event they had a Dutch compere  entertaining the crowd and making them feel at home in our city.

After the opening day of the world cup when South African fans stormed the fanpark to get in security has been tightened up significantly and it was a pleasure feeling safe and happy in an area where normally you would not do so.

In the fanpark prices of food and drink were a bit steep for South Africans but for people who had brought in foreign currency a beer cost about 2.50 euros or about $3.00, a lot less than I paid for a beer in the UK at B/Stg 3.50 for one beer +- R45.00.

Dutch fans at the Parade fanfest

The Dutch  fans on arrival were very subdued but I suspect they had all had a hard night the night before and were still waking up. What was interesting were the various outfits they were wearing. Anything from a Voortrekker kappie that the dutch ladies wore back in the 1700’s  to clogs and anything they could find coloured bright orange.  Some even had orange hair!

The couple who got engaged

One dutch couple were so overcome by Cape Town that they found their way onto the stage where the guy promptly proposed to his girlfriend, whipped out a ring and got engaged in front of  the Dutch audience in attendance.  It’s a long way to come to get engaged but I suspect they bought the ring in Cape Town and got a bargain price on the diamond.

Dutch fans having a meal in St Georges mall

After an hour or two soaking up the atmosphere of the fan park we decided to walk the fanwalk to the stadium. We were pleasantly surprised at what we saw and experienced. There were hundreds of Dutch fans enjoying meals at the pubs and restaurants in the streets of the city and along the fanwalk.

Flags everywhere along the fan walk to the stadium

In a previous posting I mentioned that there was not a flag in sight anywhere but when I wrote the article it was a week before the world cup. Cape Town has  certainly made up for the lack of flags now. Everywhere you looked was colour and on the day most of it was orange.

What I found really impressive were the new bridges crossing Buitengracht street which made it really easy for fans to make their way to the stadium.

Previously it would have been a massive problem crossing Buitengracht street with its six lanes of traffic. Walking the fan walk was such fun as we chatted to our foreign guests commenting on the game that would be played later. Everyone was in such high spirits and so friendly, even the normally morose security guards and police.

The new pedestrian bridge at the entrance to the Waterfront

Cape Town and the authorities have really upped their game and made the city something we as  locals  can be proud of.

The World's largest Vuvuzela

Eventually we arrived at the stadium which was surrounded by the SA Police who had taken over the security at the stadium after problems with a local security company whose guards went on strike.

They looked most impressive dressed in their uniforms which were enhanced with red and neon green safety equipment.  There were so many of them not even a flea would have gotten into the stadium without being spotted.

Unfortunately my wife and I did not have tickets for the game so we made our way into the V & A Waterfront and then back into the city via the other new bridge over Buitengracht street and past the largest Vuvuzela in the world. (See pictures above)

Cape Town station and suburban trains

Our train trip back to Century City was uneventful except for the boarding of the train on the Cape Town station. The train we were about to board arrived so full of  fans that  it looked like a large tin of sardines .  After a lot of pushing and shoving they all eventually found their way off the train and we could get on and make our way home after a  most enjoyable day out.

I  was most  impressed with  Cape Town’s upgraded public transport system which a couple of months ago I would not have gone near.  Cape Town has now set a benchmark for itself as far as public transport is concerned and is going to be expected to maintain it if  they want the public to use it after the world cup.

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The Grand parade as it was with the City hall in the background

As I write this post things are hotting up in Cape Town.  With only 38 days to go till the kick off  of the world cup event Cape Town  is in the process of finishing off some of its major projects and tidying up after completion of others.

The main focus however is at present  in the centre of the city where the Grand Parade is being set up to act as a fan park during the event.

The Grand Parade as it is today with its new brick surface

The parade which has been used as a car park over the past 50 years was badly in need of a facelift and this has happened.  The old tar surface has been lifted and replaced with bricks which match those of the old Cape Town city hall a few metres away.  The parade has gone from an old drab looking area to a nice warm and inviting area. Trees have been planted to green up the area and new lights have been installed.

With effect from the end of April many of the roads around the Grand Parade have been closed to allow for the setting up of the Fan park.  A good thing as the early closure of the roads will get people used to them being closed long before the football event kicks off and so alleviate traffic problems that would have occurred were they closed at the last minute.

The Grand Parade has had many uses  over its lifetime.   Its history begins in the  1650’s when  the Dutch settlers arrived and built the first fort at the Cape on the site.  In 1662 when the Castle of the Cape of Good Hope was built the old fort was demolished.

The open  ground being  outside the new castle’s  side gate  was taken into use  by the Dutch for military exercises and also for the public flogging of  slaves.

Old Drill hall and City Hall on Darling street opposite the Grand Parade

Later it became known as the Grand Parade to differentiate it from the Little Parade  which was situated where Caledon Square is today.

In the early 1800’s auctions started to be held on the Grand Parade on Wednesdays and Saturdays,  a practise that is still in operation today.

For the duration of the football event the stalls and auctions have been banned from Grand Parade and I noticed that they were being held on the lawns of the Castle when I drove past the parade on the 1st of May.

Statue of Queen Victoria in the Parliament Gardens

Over the years many major celebrations  have been  held on the site.  The British celebrated Queen Victoria’s birthday  annually while she was alive  and when the Boer War ended in 1902 the Grand Parade was used for a huge celebration as well.

In 1910 when South Africa became the Union of South Africa  the parade was once again used for an important celebration.

Since 1910 many functions have happened on the parade but none as important as the celebration that marked Nelson Mandela’s  release from prison in 1990.

A couple of small events have seen the Grand Parade in use since 1990 but in 2010 it will be back to its former glory when it becomes the venue for Cape Town’s main Fan park for the world cup event.

The Parade will see 28000 fans packing it to the rafters as the big screens  which are being installed at present show the games to people who want to watch and enjoy the occasion.

Whether the weather will play ball is another question that still has to be answered. The Grand Parade is an open air arena and being the middle of winter could be cold and wet.

Not only is the Grand Parade being set up for the event but also the streets of Cape Town where a fan walk is being laid out for fans to walk from the Grand Parade to the new Cape Town Stadium.

Cape Town Stadium or Green Point Stadium as it will be known for the World Cup

Although the stadium’s name is the Cape Town Stadium it will also  be known as the Green Point Stadium for the duration of the event as Fifa have printed the name Green Point Stadium on all their match tickets.

Fans who use the fan walk will have to be pretty fit as its quite a distance,  from the Grand Parade to the stadium.

With most of the approach roads to the stadium being closed on match days people will have to walk from the city to the stadium or catch some of the BRT buses which will be in operation.

To use the BRT buses you will have to have a ticket for the match.

The Grand Parade is not the only Fan Park being built for the event in Cape Town.

The Bellville Velodrome

There are two others in the city , one being the Athlone stadium which has been enlarged  for the event and the other the Bellville Veledrome which will be the only indoor fanpark in the Cape area.

The authorities are also catering for football fans further afield in the Western Cape with fan parks being set up in Plettenberg Bay and Gansbaai.

While visiting Cape Town during the football event don’t forget to visit our other tourist attractions.

To find out more about tours on offer visit our website by clicking here.

We are ready and waiting your visit!

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