London 2012 Festival Hits the Big Screens

London 2012 Festival Hits the Big Screens to Mark Opening Day

The London 2012 Festival opens on Thursday 21 June and the London 2012 Live Sites, big screens in 22 towns and cities across the UK, will show festival films to mark the first day of the UK-wide celebrations and entertain thousands of people throughout the day.


(PRWEB) June 19, 2012

The London 2012 Festival opens on Thursday 21 June and the London 2012 Live Sites, big screens in 22 towns and cities across the UK, will show festival films to mark the first day of the UK-wide celebrations and entertain thousands of people throughout the day.

• London 2012 Festival films to be shown on London 2012 Live Sites across the UK throughout opening day of festival (21 June)
• Day to culminate with live BBC broadcast on the big screens of Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela concert from Stirling

The London 2012 Festival team have worked with the BBC to develop a programme of films that will run throughout the day on the permanent big screens in Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Derby, Dover, Edinburgh, Leicester, Leeds, Liverpool, Londonderry, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Swansea, Swindon, Waltham Forest and Woolwich.

The screens will show films from events in the London 2012 Festival, including the Tracey Emin Review Show interview, excerpts from previous BBC Proms, films made by young people through the Cultural Olympiad’s Film Nation:Shorts programme, excerpts from Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) shows for the World Shakespeare Festival, clips of female comedians performing from the BFI archive to celebrate the venue’s Britain’s Queens of UK TV Comedy programme, and a film about Sacrilege, the life-sized inflatable replica of Stonehenge by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller that will pop up in places around the UK throughout the London 2012 Festival.

Yoko Ono’s worldwide initiative of anti-violence, IMAGINE PEACE, will be unveiled on the screens on the day, with the IMAGINE PEACE message translated into 24 world languages and repeated through the day.

For children and families there will be a screenings after school at 4.00pm and 6.00pm of the Guinness world record breaking and BAFTA winning film ‘The Itch of the Golden Nit’. The film, made through The Tate Movie Project as part of the Cultural Olympiad, is an animated adventure drawn and dreamt up by thousands of children across the UK and narrated by leading TV stars including David Walliams, Miranda Hart, Catherine Tate and Rik Mayall.

A celebration of the body in a variety of dance forms, often linked in film to athletics, has been a theme that has resonated in digital work across the UK. A selection of work from the North West and South West of England, the Midlands, London and Edinburgh, called The Moving Body, is scheduled to be showcased in two screenings on Thursday at 1.00pm and 5.00pm.

The big day on the big screens will culminate with a live BBC broadcast of The Big Concert from Stirling at 7.30pm with the Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. The live broadcast will be preceded by a build up to the concert featuring footage from the Big Noise project, an orchestra programme that uses music making to foster confidence, teamwork, pride and aspiration in the children taking part and across their wider community in the Scottish community of Raploch, Stirling.

Ruth Mackenzie, Director, London 2012 Festival, said: ‘ I am thrilled that in addition to 10 million free opportunities to take part in London 2012 Festival, on June 21st, all the London 2012 Live Sites will give a taste of some of the great artists in the Festival, including a live transmission of the opening concert from Stirling, Scotland.’

Roger Mosey, BBC London 2012 Director, said, ‘We know a lot of people want to enjoy the summer of 2012 by joining together and sharing the biggest events, and that applies to the arts in the London 2012 Festival as it will for the Olympic Games themselves. The BBC is proud to be working with our partners to deliver the Live Sites alongside our TV, radio and online coverage.’

The London 2012 Festival, a 12 week UK-wide celebration for the Olympic and Paralympic Games which brings together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK, opens 21 June 2012 with a spectacular burst of events across the UK. This ‘once in a lifetime’ Festival features more than 25,000 artists from all 204 competing Olympic nations. Everyone will be able to join in the celebration with over 10 million free tickets and opportunities to take part in 12,000 events and performances at 900 venues all over the UK, including 130 world premieres and 85 UK premieres.

London 2012 Live Sites will be the destination in 22 towns and cities across the UK for friends, families and communities to gather together to witness unforgettable moments from the London 2012 Olympic Games on big screens this summer.

The Sites, run in partnership between London 2012, the BBC and local authorities, and supported by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, partners BT and Lloyds TSB, and supporters Cisco and Cadbury, will be transformed from May with the screens being surrounded by London 2012 branding and seating provided at special events so crowds can watch the sporting action in style.

During the Games the sites will be the destination to experience all the biggest Olympic moments. Up to 500,000 people per day are expected to celebrate the Games at Live Sites throughout the country. Fully branded, there will be seating provided so crowds can watch the sporting action in style and watch the sporting action. The screens will show BBC One coverage, reflecting the best of the action every day of the Olympic Games and many Live Sites will also feature 'have a go' sessions for Olympic sports.

These sites will be the place to join with thousands of people to see every key moment, witness every Team GB medal winning performance and celebrate records being broken.

Notes to editors:
For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office.

Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ - follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/london2012 or download the Official London 2012 Join In app.

The Official London 2012 Join In app is a free mobile guide to help you plan, enjoy and share your Games experience. From the Olympic Torch Relay to the Olympics and Paralympics, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, plus all the cultural, city and community celebrations happening across the UK, the Official London 2012 Join In App is your essential companion. It is available now at app stores and athttp://www.london2012.com/mobileapps/

About the London 2012 Festival:
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people.

The culmination of the Cultural Olympiad will be the London 2012 Festival, the spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK, from Midsummers Day on 21 June and running until the final day of the Paralympic Games on 9 September 2012.

The London 2012 Festival will celebrate the huge range, quality and accessibility of the UK’s world-class culture including dance, music, theatre, the visual arts, fashion, film and digital innovation, giving the opportunity for people across the UK to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Principal funders of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival are Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the Olympic Lottery Distributor. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival.

For more details on the programme, to download the London 2012 Festival official guide and to sign up for information visit http://www.london2012.com/festival.

London 2012 Games partners:
The Worldwide Olympic Partners who support the London 2012 Olympic Games and the National Olympic Committees around the world are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos, Dow, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung and Visa.

LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twenty-eight domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heathrow Airport, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, NATURE VALLEY, Next, Nielsen, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Thames Water, Ticketmaster, Trebor and Westfield.

There is one domestic Tier One Paralympic Games-only Partner, Sainsbury’s and two domestic Tier Three Paralympic Games-only Suppliers, Otto Bock and Panasonic. The London 2012 Paralympic Games also acknowledges the support of the National Lottery.