2010 Football World Cup draw celebrations in Long Street, Cape Town

Following on from my previous post about the 2010 World Cup draw - after walking down from where we'd parked, we arrived at the security checkpoint, where our bags were checked and metal detectors were used to scan for weapons. That was the easy part. From then on we battled the crowd to work our way to a spot where we could see one of the large television screens.

The road got so crowded that we could hardly move at times, and the police eventually closed the gates to prevent any more people from entering Long Street. Apparently there were in excess of 120,000 people in the street! Still, everybody was having fun and it seemed there were smiles permanently etched on most people's faces.

From early afternoon, the stage (which was way up ahead of us) had hosted popular bands and entertainers; and all evening we had stilt-walkers, huge puppets walking over the crowd, and topless dancers keeping us entertained. (Nah, I'm kidding about the topless dancers. ;) ).

The crowd quietened down as the live telecast of the final draw started playing, and huge cheers erupted each time one of our national heroes was introduced. There was a palpable sense of collective pride at what South Africa and its people have managed to achieve. All in all, the atmosphere was fantastic - a taste of what visitors can expect to experience during next year's World Cup.

Take a look at our photo album for more shots from the Long Street party.