The UK’s Cultural Olympiad has opened

It’s a scheme that was a major factor in London winning the Olympic bid, and one that is currently being programmed region by region.

More than 500 events – from a World Shakespeare Festival and a National Singing Day to a young people’s digital film competition, a Festival of Carnivals and a World Cultural Festival – are scheduled to take place across the country.

The starting gun for the Olympiad was an Open Weekend (September 26-28) featuring hundreds of events, from concerts and workshops to behind the scenes tours of some of London's most famous theatres and free classes for adults with the English National Ballet.

Culture Olympiad and the 2012 Olympics

Lord Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, believes that Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement, would have approved.

“The Cultural Olympiad is at the heart of the Olympic movement,” said Lord Coe. “It was one of its founding principles and will leave a legacy of cultural engagement in communities across our country. We now have an extraordinary opportunity to build partnerships between the cultural groups pre-eminent in their communities the length and breath of the UK” he added.

[…] We now have an extraordinary opportunity to build partnerships between the cultural groups pre-eminent in their communities the length and breath of the UK

Lord Coe

Chairman

London 2012 Organising Committee

Loyd Grossman, Chair of Culture Northwest, is excited by the prospect of the Olympiad and what it can offer the region. “The Cultural Olympiad will encapsulate the ideals of the 2012 games,” he said. “It has real potential to engage new audiences, build community involvement, broker new partnerships, deliver stronger programmes and attract visitors to the region. Our vision is that, by 2018, the legacy from this investment will be a more vibrant and engaging cultural life across the Northwest” Grossman continued.

Celebration of culture

The Olympiad is certainly aiming high. It wants to feature outstanding moments of creative excellence across the full range of performing arts and creative industries; connect future generations with the UK’s artistic communities and their peers around the world; drive tourism and inward investment, and use the creative industries to boost economic regeneration. Above all, it will be a global showcase of British cultural excellence and diversity.

Jude Kelly, Chairwoman of Culture, Ceremonies and Education for the Games, announced that the Olympiad would feature 10 major programmes designed to be the largest celebration of cultural life in living memory.

"Working together with this country's great artists and institutions,” she said, “we will ensure that we have a programme that will inspire participation, enable everyone to get involved and unleash the creative talents of young people across the whole of the UK’

UK supports creativity

The projects in the Olympiad will be funded and delivered in partnership with other arts and culture organisations and bodies: more than £40 million has been earmarked for cultural activities across the United Kingdom. And, most importantly, these events will be open to all.

[…] we will ensure that we have a programme that will inspire participation, enable everyone to get involved and unleash the creative talents of young people across the whole of the UK

Jude Kelly

Chairwoman

Culture, Ceremonies and Education for the Games

“Everyone should have an opportunity to participate in events linked to the Games and the Cultural Olympiad,” said Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics and London. “Providing such opportunities will require public, private and charitable sector help from across the UK” she added.

In July, it was announced that BP would be a major backer of the Olympiad, building upon its long standing and extensive arts, culture and education programmes (including relationships with the British Museum, The Royal Opera House and Tate Britain among others).

The 2012 Games and its associated events and activities mean myriad business opportunities for national and international companies. Thousands of new contracts will be awarded by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) - the body responsible for developing and building the new venues and infrastructure for the Games and their use post 2012 – and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG).

Already, over 650 businesses have won contracts collectively worth over £2.7 billion. To find out about current and future London 2012 contracts, interested businesses should log onto CompeteFor (www.competefor.com), the chosen website of London 2012 for the publication of Games-related contract opportunities. Once registered, businesses will automatically receive news of forthcoming tender opportunities.

These are exciting times for sport, art, education and business in the UK. With the Cultural Olympiad officially underway, the countdown to the London 2012 Games has begun.