Coventry and Warwickshire 2012 Partnership

A Host for London 2012

The Ricoh Arena, the home of Coventry City Football Club has been selected as the new Midlands venue to host Olympic Football matches in 2012.

This follows a selection procedure by the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) and means that all venues are now in place for the London Games.

The venue will be temporarily re-named the City of Coventry Stadium for the London 2012 Olympic Games and all other branding will be removed at Games time. The Stadium replaces Villa Park which was ruled out because of planned building development work.

The Olympic Football competition is the second largest football event after the World Cup. London 2012 will feature 58 games over 18 days, with over 500 athletes competing from 28 nations.

The City of Coventry Stadium will host a minimum of six matches and takes its place alongside five other UK wide venues including:
• Hampden Park, Glasgow
• St James' Park, Newcastle
• Old Trafford, Manchester
• Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

The event final will be played at Wembley Stadium.

Seb Coe, LOCOG Chair, said: ‘The City of Coventry Stadium is a great venue, and will be an excellent host for Football matches for the London 2012 Olympic Games. It is ideally located in the centre of England and the city already has strong links with London 2012'.

Daniel Gidney, Chief Executive of the Ricoh Arena, said: ‘We are looking forward enormously to staging Olympic football in Coventry. This is a great honour and we are proud to be involved with the Games. We have worked hard over the last few months to prepare our bid and I would like to thank all our partners and organisations involved for their support.’

In addition to hosting Olympic football matches, Coventry will secure a number of Training and Holding Camps from the teams that compete at the City of Coventry Stadium. The University of Warwick will be the official pre-games training and holding camp venue for visiting National Olympic Committess that qualify for the tournament.

The City of Coventry Stadium will also host a test event in April 2012 in preparation for the Games in July. For further information about the City of Coventry Stadium please click here

Live Site

The London 2012 Live Sites concept is built upon a five-year experimental project to develop the UK’s Public Space Broadcasting infrastructure…a network of all-year-round permanent screens.

Funded through the National Lottery, by the Olympic Lottery Distributor (OLD), Coventry has now been selected by the Olympic Lottery Distributor as a location to host a London 2012 Live Site.

Live Sites will be the destination for news, events and live screenings of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. Working with the BBC and London 2012, Coventry will join the UK wide Live Site network that currently has 18 screens up and running in Cities across the Country.

Live Site screens have created many special moments for audiences through their coverage of high-profile National and International events (e.g. Live8, Wimbledon, the RBS 6 Nations Championships and Proms in the Park). As the network has grown, its potential for reaching untapped audiences has been recognized and they have featured exclusive screenings of networked initiatives such as Royal Opera House performances of ballet and opera.

The role of each screen has developed way beyond original expectations as a result of each community warming to the concept and the creative outlet it provides for them. They are no longer seen as just a big screen; communities now regard them as offering:

• A digital city centre focal point and meeting place.
• A 21st Century public news and information point - improving public awareness of local issues, developments, initiatives and activities.
• A hi-tec showcase for educational and community activities.
• A high profile outlet for visual arts, digital innovation and local filmmaking.
• A new and innovate dimension to assisting urban regeneration and public realm by encouraging people to feel positive about their city centres and to enjoy shared experiences and memorable occasions in less sterile urban spaces.

Subject to planning permission and approvals, installation will be completed by May 2011.
 

Godiva Awakes

Imagineer Productions – Godiva Awakes

Commissioned through Artists Taking the Lead, an exciting project forming part of London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad and funded by Arts Council England, Imagineer’s Godiva Awakes, is one of 12 commissions that will be realised across the UK over the next three years, each inspired by their location and celebrating the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Imagine a ten metre high Lady Godiva, awakening from her sleeping chamber for the first time. She stands in the centre of England between the White Horse in Kent and the Angel of the North, a potent symbol of justice across the world, reborn for the 21st century, embodying the values of fair play, friendship, respect and courage that are at the heart of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Clothed in a coat crafted by artists and communities from across the region, chronicling the West Midland’s unique industrial and engineering heritage she is a moving, breathing monument, reflecting the excellence of past engineering glories and ‘imagineering’ the engineering future for all our young people in the West Midlands.

In July 2012, Godiva will awake to a spectacular performance involving 200 dancers, actors, aerialists, musicians, pyrotechnicians, carnivalists and young people in a procession marking the unveiling of this Lady Godiva for the modern age. Powered by 50 cyclists, Godiva will then journey to London to play a part in the London 2012 celebrations.

A world class piece of public art, made by mechanics, artists, theatre makers, puppeteers and engineers from Coventry, the region, nationally and internationally to the highest standards of contemporary craftsmanship, which will play a significant role in the urban regeneration, development of tourism and regional pride for the West Midlands. Godiva Awakes will be a moving piece of public art the like of which has never been seen that runs on cycle power/sustainable energy.

Imagineer Productions is an independent creative production company based in Coventry, which produces large-scale outdoor events, carnival and site specific theatre. The team behind the name include: Jane Hytch, Kathi Leahy, Claire Maddocks and Andrea Simpson.

For further information please visit: www.imagineerproductions.co.uk
 

World Shakespeare Festival

The World Shakespeare Festival, led by the Royal Shakespeare Company, will celebrate Shakespeare as international property and the British as international people, through an unprecedented World Shakespeare Festival, centring on exchange and collaboration.

It will focus on the relationship between the many communities of the world’s diaspora represented in the UK and will include major collaborations between leading UK and international theatre companies, artists and large-scale premieres of international Shakespeare productions.

Major UK partners already include the National Theatre and the Shakespeare’s Globe, which will be producing its own Shakespeare project as part of the Festival.

The Festival will empower young people at home and abroad through ownership of Shakespeare and the challenge and fun of performance and it will collaborate with the huge non-professional theatre movement in the UK.

Schools and communities across the UK will be linked with their peers in other countries, culminating in live performances at regional festivals.

The main hubs will be Stratford-upon-Avon, London and Newcastle, with further regional centres for community and schools performances, as well as touring and online activity worldwide.

The Festival will run from Shakespeare’s birthday on 23 April 2012 until the start of the Olympic Games on 27 July 2012. 

For more information please visit: www.london2012.com

Torch Relay

The Olympic Torch Relay

Lit in Olympia, the Olympic Flame will arrive in the UK on 18 May 2012. 8,000 Torchbearers will carry the Flame on a 70-day journey throughout the nations and regions of the UK, with evening and day time entertainment, shows and concerts marking its arrival. 95% of the UK population will be within a one hour journey of the Relay.

In line with the bid promise to inspire and connect a new generation to the Olympic Movement, more than half of the Torchbearers are expected to be young people.

A Torchbearer nomination process will be announced in May 2011, giving people across the UK the chance to be involved in this historic countdown to the start of the London 2012 Games.

Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung are the Presenting Partners for the Torch Relay.

The Paralympic Torch Relay

The build up to the Paralympic Games will also be celebrated by a UK-wide Paralympic Torch Relay in August 2012.

Celebrations and events will feature as part of the period leading up to the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games on 29 August 2012. 

The final leg of the relay will finish in the Olympic Stadium where the torch will be used to light the Olympic Flame which will remain lit for the duration of the London Games.