Olympics opening ceremony details revealed
As London gears up for the London Olympics 2012 – with only 45 days to go –details for the £27 million opening ceremony have been revealed.
On July 27, the Olympic Stadium be transformed to reflect “the rolling British countryside”, as 10,000 volunteers step in to recreate country scenes, complete with meadows, fields and rivers – representing one of the largest sets ever built.
The opening scene of the London ceremony will be called “Green and Pleasant”, artistic director Danny Boyle revealed.
Boyle has paid tribute to the 10,000 volunteers, cast and crew rehearsing night and day to make the Opening Ceremony a success.
A total of 157 cast rehearsals have already taken place, with volunteer performers giving up their evenings and weekends to take part in rehearsals at a site in Barking & Dagenham.
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On entry to the Olympic Stadium in east London the audience will see a scene that represents a traditional and idyllic view of the British countryside.
The whole of the field of play in the Stadium will be transformed into the rolling British countryside as the London 2012 Ceremonies Team creates one of the largest sets ever built.
The set will feature families taking picnics, sport being played on the village green and farmers tilling the soil whilst real farmyard animals graze – including 12 horses, 3 cows, 2 goats, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, 9 geese, 70 sheep, and 3 sheep dogs.
Each of the four nations will be represented by their national flower – the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and flax from Northern Ireland.
Sir Paul McCartney has been confirmed in the line up of acts that will participate – as 10,500 athletes from around the world are welcomed to the city.
Lord Sebastian Coe, who chairs the Organising Committee Locog, said it would be one of the biggest sets ever built for a show.
VisitBritain hopes the Games will attract 4 million extra visitors to London, spending £2.3bn over the next four years.
Approximately 8.8 million people in 34 venues over 19 days are expected to watch the Games.
Meanwhile billions of people are expected to watch the Games around the world.
“The Olympics will have a global audience of billions.” explains Christopher Rodrigues, chairman of VisitBritain.
“We are working hard with international broadcasters from all our key source markets to make sure they capture all that is great about Britain and broadcast it around the world to inspire travel,” he added.
“Through our £125 million marketing campaign we will seek to create a real legacy for British tourism which will last for many years to come,” Rodrigues added.