West Midlands Opens Up for London 2012 Open Weekend – supported by BP
Thirty six exciting events across the West Midlands, from rowing regattas and brilliant bogs to music festivals and historical exhibitions, are to be part of London 2012 Open Weekend (24 – 26 July 2009) – a series of events across the country enabling access to excellence in the arts, culture and sport and celebrating three years to go until the London 2012 Olympic Games.
London 2012 Open Weekend enables everyone to share in the excitement of the Games, be inspired, get involved, unleash creativity and try something new. Join the celebrations across the West Midlands and plan your weekend: www.london2012.com/openweekend. All London 2012 Open Weekend Events taking place in the West Midlands are listed, county-by-county, below. Examples include:
• Celebrate Birmingham’s Victorian Heritage at a new photography exhibtion.
• Learn about the West Midlands’ connections to the Olympic Games in Our Games Story
in Hereford and celebrate the fascinating creative history of Herefordshire through the
Product Present Passion exhibition.
• See a unique collaboration between the arts and sports as 20 artists from East
Staffordshire display their work in the nomes of 20 sports representatives for a month at
The Brewhouse in Burton-upon-Trent.
• Who knew that Bogs are Brilliant? Explore and discover the special wildlife of the Mosses
and learn how bogs help with climate change in Whixall, Shropshire. And enjoy a
weekend of family fun celebrating and learning about the birth of the Industrial Revolution
in Coalbrookdale, Ironbridge.
• Also in Shropshire, enjoy a day out for all the family with live music, street entertainment
and sports and arts activities as part of the Marches Youth Festival in Ludlow.
• Unleash your inner rock and roller with the Fabulous Fifties Fun Day and get sporty in a
special sports day, both in Stafford.
• Enjoy the town’s first Jazz and Blues festival in Penkhull, take part in a guided tour of
Wedgwood’s Burslem, or go behind the scenes at the New Vic Theatre or the Potteries
Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.
• Light up new pieces of art work to celebrate the 300th birthday of Samuel Johnston,
Lichfield.
• Learn to dance on your bicycle and celebrate the marriage of sport and art at
Extraordinary Cycles, Leamington Spa.
• Make like a roman solider at Lunt Roman Fort or revel in the memories of school sports
as team of misfit sports instructors prepare for their Olympics rehearsal in Coventry.
• Join in with a variety of sporting events including spinning, dodgeball, table tennis and
volleyball at Stafford College’s ‘Celebrate Sports’ day.
• Visit a national nature reserve or have a roaring River Adventure at one of the biggest
inland river regattas in the country, the Bewdley Rowing Regatta in Worcestershire.
The London 2012 Open Weekend created by London 2012 is supported by BP, the Premier Partner of the Cultural Olympiad. London 2012 Open Weekend will take place every year in July.
This year’s London 2012 Open Weekend follows the success of last year’s event, which launched the Cultural Olympiad and enabled over 700,000 people to become part of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Chris Saint, Chair of the West Midlands Leadership Group for the 2012 Games, said: “London 2012’s new Open Weekend is a brilliant initiative which gives people in the West Midlands region the chance to take part in the London 2012 experience right here where they live. It also provides a real challenge to try something new as we mark the three year countdown to the beginning of the Games in 2012. We’ve got lots of exciting events already signed up for Open Weekend but there will be even more by the time the weekend arrives – something for everyone to join in with.”
London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe said: “We’ve always been clear that London 2012 is about more than just sport, we want to create a Games for the Nation and Games that are accessible to everyone. We created Open Weekend as part of the Cultural Olympiad, to enable people to share in the countdown celebrations towards London 2012 but also be inspired by the Games to discover new interests and develop their talents.
“Open Weekend is part of our vision for the Games to inspire lasting change. The fantastic range of Open Weekend events provide opportunities for everyone to access excellence across sport, art and culture and try something new. The Games are thriving across the UK and we are grateful to the organisations that have partnered with us to make Open Weekend happen.”
Peter Mather, Head of BP in the UK said: “BP is delighted to become the Premier Partner of the Cultural Olympiad. We have an excellent track record for supporting the arts in the UK and we want to help build further synergies between sports and the arts in the run up to the 2012 Games. We are already working closely with LOCOG on our plans as the official Tier 1 oil and gas partner and adding the cultural arm to these activities is something to which we are looking forward.”
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