Tens of thousands of South Africans joined world leaders at stadium near Johannesburg on Tuesday to honour the life of Nelson Mandela.
Crowds danced inside the 95,000-seater FNB stadium on the outskirts of Johannesburg as they awaited the start of the memorial service as rain fell.
Mr Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate, led South Africa's transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s after 27 years in prison and was the country's first black president. The 95-year-old died on 5 December at his home in Johannesburg.
People poured into the FNB stadium ahead of the service. Photo: AFP
More than 100 current or former heads of state or government are attending the funeral on Sunday or the service at the stadium where Mr Mandela made his final major public appearance during the 2010 football World Cup.
From the train station people walked, jogged and sang their way in light rain towards the stadium to join in the mass remembrance for Tata (Father) Nelson Mandela, their president whose courage and fortitude broke the back of the hated apartheid system, AFP reports.
Despite the profound sense of national sorrow triggered by his death, the mood was upbeat, with people determined to celebrate the memory of one of the 20th century's towering political figures. "This is once in your life. This is history," said Noma Kova, 36. "I didn't want to watch this on TV."
Only 80,000 were to be allowed inside the stadium, with others forced to watch at home or on giant screens set up in three "overflow" stadiums in Johannesburg with a combined capacity of 120,000.
Many people were wrapped in the South African flag or yellow-green coloured shawls printed with the slogan "Mandela Forever" and portraits of their hero.
The memorial service would be relayed live to tens of thousands of people watching on huge screens in Johannesburg and millions more world-wide.
Obama to lead leaders' tributes
The service will begin with the singing of the South African national anthem by a mass choir.
US President Barack Obama is to give the first of the leaders' tributes to Nelson Mandela. Others will be given by the Presidents of Brazil, Namibia, India and Cuba, the Vice-President of China and the United Nations Secretary-General.
Mr Obama, the first black president of the US, has taken former President George W. Bush with him to attend the service in a high-profile show of American respect for the man who vanquished white-minority rule. The only surviving former president not travelling is Mr Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, who is 89.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled plans to attend the events because of travel and security costs.
New Zealand's small delegation of five people is led by Prime Minister John Key.
Nelson Mandela's grandchildren will also pay public tribute to him, as well as fellow Robben Island prisoner, Andrew Mlangeni, one of his closest friends and most faithful visitors until the end of his life.
Mr Mandela's granddaughter Tukweni Mandela told the BBC her family has been preparing for nearly a year for this day.
"For us what's even harder is there's lots of people around at a time when you really want your privacy as a family and you can't have that. We haven't had our chance to grieve because we've ... been working to make sure that my grandfather gets the beautiful send-off that really deserves."
Nelson Mandela's body will lie in state in Pretoria for three days and he will be given a state funeral on Sunday in the Eastern Cape village of Qunu, where he grew up.
A national day of reconciliation will take place on 16 December when a statue of Mr Mandela will be unveiled at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Special session at parliament
The South African parliament has held a special session to honour Mr Mandela. Members of his family were in the gallery for the occasion.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said there was a "sweeping feeling of sorrow" world-wide following Mr Mandela's death, but the most important thing was how those left behind dealt with his legacy.
"The litmus test is whether inheritors of his dream... will be able to make the dream for which he lived come to pass in the fullness of time," he said.
