The inside of Cape Town Stadium. Photo courtesy Warren Rohner

Cape Town Stadium is now open for school tours on Wednesdays, in addition to its public tour days on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Shameema Adams, marketing manager of Cape Town Stadium, says a nominal fee is being charged to cover the costs of opening for visitors and providing guided tours.

“We want everyone in Cape Town to feel that this is their stadium,” she says. “We believe that even the less advantaged schools should to be able to visit and have set up a twinning programme so that pupils at affluent schools who are able to pay a R20 entry fee can partner with learners at other schools and allow them to visit at no cost.”

The visitors’ centre is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with tours departing at 10:00, 12:00 and 14:00 and on Wednesdays for schools only at 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00. Tours last one hour. The cost for adults is R60, and for pensioners and children under 12 entrance is R30.

Those wishing to visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays are strongly advised to book in advance. Saturday tours are run on a first-come-first-served basis.

Visitors can check availability by calling the booking office on 021 430 7346 or e-mailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Inside Cape Town Stadium. Photo courtesy Jason Bagley

Cape Town Stadium tours resumed today, having closed for two months due to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

Eight matches were held at Cape Town Stadium during the tournament, including the Round of 16 match between Portugal and Spain, the quarter-final between Argentina and Germany, as well as the semi-final between the Netherlands and Uruguay, which was the first-ever World Cup semi-final to be played on African soil.

Be sure to visit the R4.5-billion masterpiece, which hosted football stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Fernando Torres, David Villa and Lionel Messi.

Stadium tours take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and are hour-long sessions each which start at 10h00, 12h00 and 14h00. Tickets are R60 for adults and R30 for pensioners and children younger than 12. School tours are available at R10 per child. Booking is essential for Tuesdays and Thursdays, and you can contact Michelle Lyons on +27 (0)21 430 7346 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to make inquiries.

The Ajax Cape Town team that played in the inaugural match at Cape Town Stadium. Photo courtesy Jens am Kap 2007

Tickets for the PSL double header, to be played at Cape Town Stadium on August 27, will be available through Computicket from Friday August 6. Forty thousand tickets priced from R40 to R80 are up for grabs on a first-come first-served basis. This is the first event at the stadium since the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

The opening match will be between newly promoted Cape Town club Vasco da Gamma and Orlando Pirates. Kick-off is scheduled for 18h00. Ajax Cape Town will then take on Bloemfontein Celtic at 20h45.

Ajax will be using Cape Town Stadium as their home ground for the 2010/2011 Premier Soccer League (PSL) season. The team played in the inaugural match at the stadium on January 23, 2010, when they lost to Santos in a friendly. Read commentary from that event.

Vasco da Gamma will play a big part in growing the popularity of soccer in the Cape post World Cup and the match against the Buccaneers is a great opportunity for them to introduce themselves to PSL fans and test their skills against one of the best clubs in South Africa.

Mario Das Neves, Chairman of Vasco da Gamma, said, “Vasco is very excited about the fact that we will be playing our very first PSL match ever at the new Cape Town Stadium. It is a great opportunity to introduce ourselves to the football fans of Cape Town in a year in which Vasco celebrates its 30th birthday and South Africa hosted a fantastic World Cup.”

Cape Town Stadium PSL fixtures for 2010

August 27: Ajax Cape Town vs Bloemfontein Celtics

September 17: Ajax Cape Town vs Platinum Stars

October 15: Ajax Cape Town vs Engen Santos

November 10: Ajax Cape Town vs Vasco da Gamma

November 26: Ajax Cape Town vs BIDVest Wits

December 17: Ajax Cape Town vs Mamelodi Sundowns

The biggest spectator event in the world, The FIFA Soccer World Cup, is steadily approaching and part of this drama will be shown right here in our brand new, beautiful Green Point Stadium.

The stadium is getting more beautiful by the day! It truly takes your breath away to see its sweeping silhouette against the red evening sky.

When I pulled my bedroom curtains back on the morning of January 25, 2009, the stadium was completely gone! It was hiding in thick fog. I missed the sight. Very soon, however, the sun burned the mist away and the stadium was revealed.

Though the stadium is still being constructed and is to be completed on December 14 this year, it is already a spectacular sight at night. More and more lights are switched on as work progresses.

I have seen quite some fireworks around the world but ours are always truly impressive. Cape Town is the party city!

The stadium is now framed by a massive compression ring. It will support the glass roof, which is currently being constructed in New York. The process of tightening the “spokes” and raising the inner ring of the roof structure from ground level to a height of 34.5 metres began on Monday, February 9, and was successfully completed on Wednesday, February 18.

I will leave you with this image of the jaw-dropping beauty of our Cape Town skies – God’s heavenly palette. The real sight was even more spectacular than my picture is able to show. This picture was taken on February 24 after a day of the city being covered in smoke from raging fires around us. For once we had clouds on the Atlantic Seaboard.

Joanne, aka Joanne/CapeTownFIFAWORLDCUP2010, is a member of the Cape Town Tourism Flickr Group, “Cape Town. Live it. Love it”. Visit Joanne’s Flickr photostream.

Do you have images of Cape Town you’d like to share with us? We’d love you to join the Cape Town. Live it. Love it. Flickr group!

Images © Joanne 2009. All rights reserved.

On Saturday, January 23, 2010, the first soccer match to be played at the new R4.5-billion Cape Town Stadium will be a clash of Cape Town’s two top Premier Soccer League teams, Ajax Cape Town and Santos.

The City of Cape Town, as part of its readiness programme for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, hosts this inaugural match.

The number of spectators will be limited to 20 000 for the event, because it is partly a test of the stadium’s systems and processes. Says SAIL Stadefrance Operating Company Executive Chair Morne du Plessis: “We ask for support from the local community – we will try to minimise the impact on residents in the area.”

SAIL Stadefrance CEO Purshoth Chetty has encouraged Capetonians and visitors to be part of a Cape Town milestone and celebrate the city’s achievement. Tickets are now sold out.

The Ajax Cape Town and Santos match is the first event of the Cape Town Stadium Soccer Festival. Says Du Plessis: “This is so much more than a soccer match – there will be participation from local musicians and artists and we intend to build on the event each year, creating an annual event at which soccer can be celebrated in Cape Town.”

The second Cape Town Stadium test event, planned for February 6, 2010, will launch the Cape Town Stadium Rugby Festival.  A Boland Invitational 15 side will play the Vodacom Stormers. The SA 10s Legends vs International 10s Legends promises to be an exciting curtain-raiser to the main match.

Jean Louis Romain of SAIL Stadefrance, a joint venture between South Africa’s SAIL and France’s Consortium Stadefrance, which manages the stadium, says the facility “has been designed as a multi-purpose stadium and is able to incorporate rugby and soccer matches, as well as live entertainment and concerts. The test events have been designed to allow us to test all these uses as well as our event management plans, to ensure we have sound operating systems.”

There will be a free shuttle service from the Civic Centre in Hertzog Boulevard to the stadium and back for fans who have not purchased pre-paid parking tickets at the stadium. To use this facility, all fans need do is present their match tickets. This service will operate between noon and 19h00. The pick-up point is conveniently located for public transport users of Cape Town Station, Station Deck and the Golden Arrow Bus Terminus. Security will also be provided. 

No parking will be permitted at Cape Town Stadium other than for pre-paid parking ticket holders. 

The schedule for the day is:

14:00 Gates open
Roving podium entertainment
15:20 Official blessing of the field and opening of the stadium
15:30 Musical performance by FreshlyGround
16:00 Ajax Cape Town vs Santos game 1st half
16:45 Vuvuzela orchestra performance
17:00 Ajax Cape Town vs Santos game 2nd half
17:45 Final whistle
17:55 Official trophy ceremony
19:00 Gates close