The 2010 Festival of Media conference kicked off this morning in Valencia, Spain, regardless of the ominous ash plume created by the Icelandic volcano that's been wreaking havoc in airspaces across Europe. I bet the organisers, when they were jotting down various worst-case scenarios, didn't see this one coming - but I guess no-one could. The situation isn't so bleak after all with just slight adjustments to the festival agenda. For novice event organisers, situations like this could very well mean total chaos. Sitting pretty on the southern tip of Africa I think South Africa is relatively safe from nature's awesome forces, but just imagine if this eruption had happened at the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup - what a disaster it would be with European fans missing out on the live action. The final ticketing phase opened last Thursday and South African football fans queued for hours - some unfortunately had to leave without tickets as the system crashed. Perhaps there should have been two of these over-the-counter sales phases since it was clearly the preferred purchasing option for many South Africans - 130 000 tickets were sold in just two days. We no longer need to worry about empty stadiums just yet - it's when the World Cup has come and gone and the spectacular pieces of architecture stand vacant - now there's a challenge for the host nation! Congratulations to Cape Town's Freshlyground who will be singing the 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem with international artist, Shakira.

Adiós, Sindy Peters, Africa editor
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