Friday night in Derby, a mild night, and the city centre was heaving with over 10,000 people, largely families with young children, who had come out specially to see the street parades and other artistic performances which marked the region's launch of the Cultural Olympiad.
The crowd were awed by the Giants of Derby puppets made by local schoolchildren, by Sarruga's large mechanical insects from Spain and by an acrobat suspended from a helium balloon, accompanied by a specially commissioned musical score from Scanner. The evening also witnessed the public opening of Quad, the new...
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0 Comments on this postThe only down-side to London's Cultural Olympiad launch weekend was that I couldn't be in more than one place at one-time! With fantastic events taking place from Wembley to Wimbledon and Hampstead to Havering, I planned my weekend with military precision to make sure I could take in as much as possible.
Lured by the prospect of combining two of my passions - my favourite London museum and shoes - I started off at the Imperial War Museum for the 'In their shoes' exhibition before heading off in the gorgeous sunshine to the National Portrait Gallery via a brief...
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Debbi, Creative Programmer, 30 September 2008
If there was ever a doubt that the London 2012 Games could reach beyond London then the Open Weekend dispelled it. Our Open Weekend programme in the Northwest was fantastic and the enthusiasm and connection to the game was clear. We want to take part. In the Northwest we had over 40 events celebrating the launch across the region and I visited 6 of them. I was greeted by banners, posters and postcards at all of them. Here are some comments on two of them:
On Friday night 50,000 people gathered along the promenade in Blackpool to watch the finale of...
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0 Comments on this postThis was the weekend when the UK's Cultural Olympiad finally came alive…and how!
Friday started early with radio interviews at 6.40am and 7.30am….and lasted until well into the night. Unlike the rest of the summer, it was a crystal clear sunny day – just as well because the first big event of our West Midlands Open Weekend was an outdoor show at the UNESCO world heritage site of Ironbridge in Shropshire.
Some 1200 people gathered on Friday night to celebrate the launch of our four...
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1 Comments on this postLast Friday, I attended the official launch of the Cultural Olympiad for Cambridgeshire at Ely Cathedral. Appropriately, I wore my Olympic pin badge (the pink one) and almost on arrival was pointed out as the 'local lad' who was part of the team which created the emblem for London 2012. Within minutes of my arrival I was standing next to the Mayor, and was being entertained by 80 young children, from the Cathedral Boy's Choir and the Ely Imps. Cultural Olympiad
Standing in the medieval arches of the Cathedral porch, they sang...
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0 Comments on this postOn Friday 26 Sept, along with Annabel from our Communications team, I accompanied Paul Deighton on a visit to the East of England region. We met with our host, Cllr Stephen Castle in Benfleet, Essex, before a meeting of the Nations and Regions East board, where Paul gave a motivational update on LOCOG’s current progress in preparation for 2012, and on the buzz generated by Beijing.
We then moved on to see some progress in action at Deanes school, Specialist Sports College in Benfleet. Here we saw students give a phenomenal gymnastics display, followed by some impressive karate, rigorous gym...
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1 Comments on this postI got completely swept up in the excitement of the Cultural Olympiad long before Open Weekend kicked off. Having been working in the Brand team for the last few months I have been very involved in the Inspire Programme application process, working closely with each and every project and so had therefore been given a taste of what was to come!
Before we knew it, Open Weekend was upon us, and faced with the exciting prospect of going to only a couple of the hundreds of events taking place UK-wide, we were forced to be ruthless in our choices! Rightly...
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Liz, Creative Programmer - East of England, 29 September 2008
In the East of England the Cultural Olympiad was launched in style this weekend with a rich variety of activity at over sixty events. From Ely cathedral glowing pink across the fens, to a sold out slam-night at the Garage on Friday night, to Metal's Village Green event including over 7,000 people in cultural and sporting activity in Southend, to a story-dancer telling Molly dancers about the sporting history of their area in Cambridge on Saturday and on Saturday and Sunday Simon Tegala's Halo shone over St George's Square in Luton and Shazad Dawood and DJ Mukuls music and...
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Bill, Director of Ceremonies, Education and Live Sites, 29 September 2008
The Cactus Tea Room in Weymouth closes at normal time this evening. The views are spectacular – it stands on the pier over-looking the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing course.
It's seen better days, but the egg and chips with a large mug of tea are A1. Get to your table quickly though. When the owners lock up tonight they close down one era of seaside history for ever and open up a new one. A large development around the Weymouth Pavilion site is being redeveloped in time for 2012. It includes a visitor centre for the World Heritage...
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Craig, Government Relations team, 29 September 2008
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0 Comments on this postDavid, Arts Development Manager, 28 September 2008
It was a glorious autumn afternoon in Bradford and as the the sun slipped quietly down the Bradford skyline the City centre exploded in a celebration of dance.
Spectacular stage performances included breathtaking displays each day from TOP 9 from Russia, considered one of the world's elite breakdancing crews. Dynamic routines performed withexplosive power and a unique Russian flava:
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0 Comments on this postThe public were queuing up at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) stand at a Family History Fair in Downpatrick Library which was one of the Northern Ireland events for the Cultural Olympiad Open Weekend.
PRONI staff were kept extremely busy giving advice and guidance on tracing family history. Some visitors wanted to know how to get started, others had done some research already and were enquiring what to do next, yet others had specific information they wanted to find or were seeking advice on how to record their family history. We even had to use...
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0 Comments on this postFriday 26th September 2008 saw the arrival of Hullabaloo, the Children's Interactive Theatre Company, to Ballymena Central Library in Northern Ireland. At 6.30 pm the children's section was packed with eager children, mostly in the three to ten age range, along with mums, dads, grans and grandads.
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0 Comments on this postOn Friday we were proud to welcome London 2012 Chief Executive, Paul Deighton to Essex in the East of England. The visit commenced at the Nations and Regions East board meeting where Paul gave a general update on London 2012 activity and on how we should move forward taking learning's from the Beijing Games.
Next we visited a Specialist Sports College - Deanes School in Benfleet. This school has been particularly proactive in engaging with London 2012 and this visit helped to show, first hand, how the school is using Get Set – the London 2012 Education programme. Integrating the Olympic...
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