As red, white and blue balloons streamed onto a Chicago stage and people danced in the aisles, Kamala Harris waved to supporters and basked in the crowd’s adulation after the speech of her political life.

As she accepted her party’s nomination in the US presidential race on Thursday, nearly every sentence Harris uttered was greeted with raucous cheers, her voice reverberating around the packed auditorium.

Thirteen of those words, delivered early in the speech, electrified the house: “I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America.”

The Democratic Party has leaned hard on saying the convention was meant to be about bringing the “joy,” and attendees seemed to respond to the call.

“I’m so elated, I’m so proud to be part of this moment. I’m 57 years old and as a Caribbean-American, I am proud of her,” said attendee Wynnie Testamark as she clutched a US flag moments after hearing Harris accept her party’s highest honor.

“She’s been prepared for such a moment as this, we need a moment like this.”

Expectations were high, with party members rewarded with a rendition by Pink of her hit “What About Us,” lighting thousands of phone torches.

In an explosive finale to a high-energy week, Harris at once concluded her unprecedentedly abrupt elevation from supportive deputy to President Joe Biden to aiming to become the country’s first woman president.

The full-to-capacity crowd waved vertical “Harris” banners in their thousands in support of their nominee, who wore a dark jacket set off with a matching cravat, and a US flag lapel pin.