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Cowes

Cowes Week is the longest-running, regular regatta in the world. The first official regatta took place in 1812.

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Cultural Olympiad: mandatory ceremonies

Delivered by the LOCOG, these live spectacles are watched on television by one in three people around the world. The ceremonies and events for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will include:

  • Handover Ceremonies at Beijing 2008
  • Torch Relays
  • Team Welcome Ceremonies
  • Medal Ceremonies
  • Closing Ceremonies in 2012

The Handover Ceremonies in summer 2008 mark the moment when the world’s focus moves to London as Host City.

Key Handover Dates

Sunday 24 August 2008:  CELEBRATE - Handover Ceremony at the Closing of the Beijing Olympic Games

Over 94 Handover flags were raised in the South East through a range of exciting and interactive sports and cultural events. Activities ranged from a whole day of picnics across the whole of West Sussex linked by the passing of a giant baguette and a travelling cabaret; to a Handover Flag spinnaker sailed by a teenage crew on a yacht around the Isle of Wight; to carnival processions; to family concerts and fun days, to free swimming across the whole of Kent; to a human Olympic Rings in White Horse Vale; to the erection of a 66 foot high1934 flag pole in Henley; to The Beijing Challenge in Herne Bay – an artist designed and led assault course; to a relay of Olympic sports delivering the Handover flag in Southampton from the water where the 1908 Olympic Motor Boating event happened through the City to be received by the Mayor at the Civic Centre.

Wednesday 17 September 2008: EDUCATE - Handover Ceremony at the Closing of the Beijing Paralympic Games

On Wednesday 17 September the Paralympic Handover Ceremony will be the major focus for a second project which will reach out to every community through young people and specifically through education routes.

On this day London 2012 will launch its Education Programme – www.london2012.com/paralympichandover. To date 450 schools in the SE have registered to take part in this day.

London 2012 is not expecting regional activity outside of a school context on this day however, due to Stoke Mandeville, founding home of the Paralympics being in the South East and our commitment to Deaf and Disabled people expressed in our Legacy Trust bid, Accentuate, we are encouraging towns and cities in the South East to mark the occasion. The Creative Programmer will work closely with Stoke Mandeville, Bucks CC and Aylesbury Vale district to ensure an excellent event for that day – it will not only mark the Handover but also 60 years since the first ever Stoke Mandeville Games. It is expected that we will launch Outcome 4 of Accentuate, the Stoke Mandeville archive, that day. At least 50 past Paralympians will be at the event along with 200 young people from local schools. A giant (12 X 8m) Paralympian Flag will be unfurled on the running track.

The counties of Kent, West Sussex, Surrey and Buckinghamshire have all committed to significant activity that day, as has the City of Southampton. Again, more participants are expected, particularly in areas with potential to host a Paralympic Pre Games Training Camp.