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Terry Bowen

The Cultural Olympiad Starts Now: Get Ready for Films, Art, Performance & Some Carnivals 

Tuesday, 17 September 08: Latest

With LT&RC trainer Terry Bowen

London is now the official Host City of the Summer Games and the eyes of the world are already on the Capital. Wednesday saw the organisers of London 2012 announce an ambitious series of cultural events in the run-up to the Games, with more than 500 events planned, culminating in a Festival of Culture. 

It was with the 1992 Barcelona Games that the Cultural Olympiad became a four-year event, marking the city's four year tenure as games host.

In 2000, the Sydney Olympics cultural component paid close attention to Australia's Aboriginal peoples through an arts festival which began three years before the sporting action.

The organisers of the Beijing Olympics, meanwhile, put on a huge show for the Cultural Olympiad, including five-festivals (one for each year of their tenure as Game’s host).

In the UK a William Shakespeare festival and 12 new public works of art will form part of a Cultural Olympiad planned for the run-up to the 2012 Games.
This four-year programme will comprise of 500 major events designed to involve and inspire people, at home and abroad.

The scheme was actually one of the key factors in London winning the bid to host the Olympics (the Cultural Olympiad will also co-ordinate the opening and closing ceremonies at the London games, as well as local and regional events).

It will begin with an open weekend, actually being held this month (26 and 28 September) around which hundreds of events have already been planned. Other projects related to it include Film Nation, a digital film competition for young people, and Unlimited, described as a celebration of disability arts, culture and sport.

There will also be National Singing Day, held as part of the BBC-backed Sounds strand, and a World Cultural Festival, held in 2012 itself, which will feature contributions from all the participating countries.

The major projects announced to date are:

• Artists Taking the Lead: 12 "cutting edge" commissions from artists across the UK;
• Stories of the World: A national network of exhibitions "telling new stories in new ways";
• Sounds: A four-project approach to "celebrating music as a universal language";
• Somewhereto: A project empowering young people to find somewhere to practice sport and culture "on their terms";
• Discovering Places: A project dedicated to "opening up the historic and built environment to new audiences";
• Film Nation - a programme "designed to get young people behind the camera";
• World Shakespeare Festival: A celebration of the Bard co-ordinated by the Royal Shakespeare Company;
• Festival of Carnivals - Five themed street carnivals to be held during the Olympic period.

This is the UK’s and, in particular, London’s opportunity to show off to the world how culturally diverse the capital is and fits nicely with Visit London’s new strap line: “See the World – Visit London”.

LT&RC’s London Ambassador training covers the Cultural Olympiad. We also ensure the Ambassadors are up-to-date with the activities taking place in their areas so as to inform visitors to London and get everyone involve the exciting build-up to 2012. If you are interested in taking part, let us know. TB

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