Open Weekend 2011, supported by BP, is set to be the biggest and best yet, with hundreds of thousands of people participating in events and bespoke projects to celebrate the ‘One Year to Go’ countdown to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, announced on 9 June 2011 that there will be a programme of over 1,000 unique sporting and cultural initiatives.
Saturday 23rd July, will see Trafalgar Square transformed to celebrate all things animation with a film screening of Tate Movie Project's 'The Itch of the Golden Nit!', as part of this year's Open Weekend, July 22nd-24th. Created by thousands of children across the UK, this is the first opportunity for the public to see the film on the open-air big screen, take part in a raft of free family activities including children’s animation workshops, and meet some of the big names that made it happen.
People across the UK will have the chance to participate in this premiere too as Live Sites in Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Derby, Dover, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Swansea, Swindon, Waltham Forest and Woolwich will screen the film from, July 22nd-24th, as part of the Open Weekend 2011 vast programme of activity.
The Live Site screenings will be supported with a full weekend of participatory activities at the big screens which will include exclusive chances to try the mascot motion sensor game ‘Swim Wenlock Swim’, newly commissioned interactive games from artist Chris O’Shea which allow live inter-city competitive play, and a special screening of the Academy Award winning British film ‘Chariots of Fire’.
Other highlights of Open Weekend 2011 activities include:
• Birmingham’s Jamaica RAW! festival in celebration of Jamaican culture and one year to go until the Jamaican Track and Field team take up residency in Birmingham during London 2012;
• The Portavilion floating cinema navigating the Olympic Park waterways, exploring alternative interpretations of the Olympic Park by some of the country's most innovative writers and comedians;
• Culture Crush Aberdeen sees some of Scotland’s most prestigious art organisations unite for the first time to take over Aberdeen. Partners include the National Theatre of Scotland, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Aberdeen Performing Arts;
• Search Party, an interactive treasure hunt through the urban playground of East London where the public have 3 hours to find an amazing party whilst uncovering the secrets of the London 2012 neighbourhood;
• With events confirmed in Portsmouth and Canary Wharf, DYSARTICULATE is a national installation which invites artists and audiences to create and plant 'paper flags' recycled from book pages across the local landscape creating a unique public art exhibit.
Country heritage sites nationwide will also open their doors for Open Weekend 2011 to help communities discover the hidden secrets of their local environments, with areas such as Box Hill National Trust Park and the North Face of Ben Nevis welcoming visitors from across the UK. Other Open Weekend 2011 highlights include a celebration of medieval sports in Conway and parkour demonstrations and art activities at the National Portrait Gallery, inspired by the BP Portrait Award.
Full listings can be found at www.london2012.com/openweekend.
London 2012 Chair Sebastian Coe said: ‘For our fourth year Open Weekend is focused on celebrating the ‘One Year to Go’ countdown to the London 2012 Games and helping communities across the country experience the best of British sporting, artistic and cultural talents up close. I’d encourage people to get involved at a local event as part of this nationwide celebration; it will be an amazing event.’
With the support of BP, Premier Partner of the Cultural Olympiad and long-standing supporter of arts and culture in the UK, the London 2012 Open Weekend is now in its fourth year. Open Weekend 2011 follows the success of the past three previous years, in which over 2.4 million people across the UK unleashed their creativity across a series of sporting, art and cultural activities in celebration of the countdown to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The 2011 weekend comes a year before the London 2012 Festival, of which BP is a Premier Partner, which from 21 June – 9 September 2012 will bring together leading artists from all over the world for a chance for everyone to celebrate London 2012 through dance, music, theatre, the visual arts, film and digital innovation in an outstanding summer of arts and creativity in the UK.
Ruth Mackenzie, Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, Director, said: ‘With thanks to our partners BP, Open Weekend 2011 is set to be the biggest and best yet. People across the UK will be showing off their creative and sporting talents by actively participating in 1,000 events to celebrate the greatest show on earth coming to the UK in only one year’s time. The weekend will give people a taste for 2012, when the London 2012 Festival and the Olympic and Paralympic Games will bring summer of cultural and sporting celebration across the nation.’
Peter Mather, Regional Vice President, Europe, & Head of Country, UK, BP said: 'BP is delighted to support Open Weekend again in 2011. Now in its fourth year and with over 1,000 arts, sports and cultural events across the UK, this year’s Open Weekend promises to be a truly memorable way to celebrate one year to go until the London 2012 Games. With a wealth of excellent events such as The Tate Movie Project in Trafalgar Square, it is also a fantastic prelude to the London 2012 Festival.’
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: 'With one year to go to the 2012 Games, excitement is almost at fever pitch and interest in London ever skyward. Open Weekend is one of the many test runs taking place over the next months that will capture some of the thrill of a phenomenal year. From sport to film to art, it's an open door to new experiences and an amazing variety of events in London and across the country. It’s your chance to be part of 2012 right now, so bring your friends and get involved in the celebrations.'
Highlight events for Open Weekend 2011 include:
• Search Party, East London: For one adventurous afternoon, east London becomes an urban playground filled with intrigue and surprise
• Portavilion Floating Cinema, East London: The Floating Cinema: Outsider’s Guide to the Olympic park tours.
• DYSARTICULATE, Portsmouth, Canary Wharf and countrywide: A large-scale installation to 'engage' artists and audiences, creating and planting 'paper flags' recycled from book pages
• Jamaica RAW!, Birmingham: Celebration of Jamaican culture marking a year to go until the Jamaican Track and Field team are based in Birmingham
• Culture Crush, Aberdeen: A range of art installations and performances, marking a unique collaboration between some of Scotland’s most prestigious art organisations, and exploring the unique culture of Aberdeen
• The Tate Movie on Trafalgar Square, London: Celebrate all things animation and the launch of the Tate Movie: The Itch of the Golden Nit!, produced by Aardman Animations and created by thousands of children across the UK
• Barbican Weekender: Extraordinary Voices, London: Inviting all ages and everyone to come to the Barbican to take part in a free weekend of events at the centre
• ‘BP Portrait Award: Next Generation Taster Sessions’: A hands on art activity for 14 - 19 years olds inspired by the BP Portrait Award 2011 and exploring portraiture and experimenting with drawing in a range of media in a variety of art activities.
• BP Saturdays: Tate Britain, London: Look, create, relate and activate! Drop in artist-led activities, gallery workshops for all the family
• L.E.A.P Parkour, Westminster, London: Providing free Parkour/Freerunning training camps and sessions for young people aged 8 -19yrs
• One Year to go Open Weekend, Crystal Palace, London: A weekend of free activities at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre to celebrate the one year to go countdown to the Olympic and Paralympic Games
• ICCI360, Weymouth: A 360 multimedia experience at the Weymouth Arena
• Circus in the City, Birmingham: A colourful array of circus skill and talent for the community to participate in and enjoy
• The Great Train Dance, Birmingham: A day of dance on a preserved steam railway, involving hundreds of young people as participants and a professional dance company
• Dante’s Inferno, Leeds: A large scale outdoor youth (11-19 yrs) theatre production of a brand new contemporary adaptation of Dante's divine comedy 'Inferno'
• Beat Carnival, Belfast: A carnival picnic in the park with Circus actors and puppets on walk-about; singers on stage, music here and drumming there; twisting, tumbling gymnasts and, high above, aerial dancers on the wall
• The Medieval Games, Conwy: Celebration of medieval sports
• Blaze! Dance Relay, Northhamptonshire: An exciting dance project involving performances in five outdoor areas of Northamptonshire, culminating in a final extravaganza of performances for any age and background to take part
• TruckArt, Luton: An event inspired by Pakistani Folk Truck Art, where young people have worked with artists to transform a vintage Bedford truck into a colourful and fascinating work of art
• The Moment When....2011 Flashmobs, Cheshire: Cheshire Dance invites you to learn and perform a dance routine ‘The Moment When...’
• The Queue, Coventry: A celebration of the great British art of Queuing. The Queue is a surreal and funny outdoor performance which will appeal to anyone who has ever found themselves queuing up
• Get Set, Glasgow: Specially commissioned series of dance performances culminating in a mass participation dance event as part of the Merchant City Festival and the opening programme for Glasgow’s Riverside Museum
• The Big Game, Lancashire: An alternative sporting event created by young people from Lancashire with New York artist Tom Russotti