The dancing girls, sushi and sake courtesy of the Ricoh Arena's new Japanese sponsors meant there was plenty of bonhomie at Coventry City's future home yesterday.
But with the Sky Blues hovering just two points above the relegation zone in the Championship, neither the club's chairman Mike McGinnity nor manager Micky Adams dare look too far ahead.
As exciting as the new £113 million development appears, the concept of City starting life at their new 32,000-seater ground - sponsored by IT firm Ricoh - next season in League One would be disastrous for Coventry.
Adams' side must beat Derby County at home on Saturday in the club's last ever game at Highfield Road to finally end any nagging relegation fears.
It is certain to be an emotional occasion for the sell-out crowd, regardless of the result, as Coventry are set to vacate their 106-year-old home to make the short move this summer.
But the Ricoh Arena development, unveiled to the media yesterday, illustrates there should be some exciting times ahead for Coventry if they can just stave off relegation in their remaining two matches.
Adams said: "I have been down to the Arena before and you can see it is coming on. It is a great facility which will help me attract new players to the football club, but I still need to put a team out there which is worthy of the stadium."
Ricoh have paid £10 million for the naming rights to the site, which will also feature an exhibition centre, hotel, health and fitness facilities and a casino.
The 72-acre venture has been funded by Coventry City Council and the football club will be tenants of Arena Coventry Ltd.
Eventually the club, who have agreed a 50-year lease, hope to increase their stake in the stadium by paying the council instalments.
But in the meantime, McGinnity is just pleased to part of an exciting scheme which he hopes will revive both the commercial landscape of Coventry and the Sky Blues' own fortunes.
"This season has not been anywhere near as successful as we would have liked but hopefully the Ricoh Arena will help us progress," said McGinnity, who expects the football club to start moving in on July 31.
"It is exciting as it won't just be used one day every two weeks like Highfield Road. When you look at many of the other grounds that have been built they are purely football grounds but we will have a hotel, the exhibition hall, a casino and a health club.
"Ricoh are a superb sponsor, a world-wide company who are extremely large and we are looking to share many good times with them.
"They will be providing a headquarters here from where several of their services will be directed and this area will become a vibrant commercial place.
"It should help the city and the football club. About seven or eight years ago we initially thought we should try and move to a new stadium.
"We want to compete with the big clubs again and we do have ambitions to get back into the Premiership."
Ricoh - who sell photocopiers, cameras and other IT equipment - are planning a major expansion into the UK market to coincide with their investment in Coventry.
Paul Fletcher, chief executive of Arena Coventry Ltd, said they were delighted to have agreed terms with the Japanese giants after Jaguar pulled out of a similar deal last December.
Fletcher said: "The Ricoh Arena will be a landmark building which will create a gateway into the city and prove one of the most unique facilities in the country.
"I am very pleased with our new sponsors - I knew we would get another big name. Jaguar had a bad time with their business and we had to help them even though we had shaken hands on the deal.
"What we didn't do was try to cause any aggravation. We had a wonderful working relationship with Jaguar and we handled it very well. We got on with life and they have agreed to sponsor the exhibition hall instead."
Fletcher, who has helped build new stadiums for Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers, will now concentrate on ensuring the Ricoh Arena is ready for the start of next season as yesterday's tour of the facility illustrated there is still much to be done.
