Welcoming the world through Opening and Closing Ceremonies

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games are events of both personal and historic importance. They call upon the best in us and illuminate our collective humanity. Vancouver 2010 will create events that honour the historic importance of gathering the world’s peoples together in peace, that respect IOC ceremonial protocols, and that joyously celebrate the Olympic Movement and the presence of the world’s finest athletes.

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be watched by as many as three billion people worldwide. The Opening Ceremony will welcome the Olympic Family and our guests from around the world, and provide us with the opportunity to present who we are as Vancouverites, British Columbians and Canadians. The Closing Ceremony will celebrate the achievements of the athletes, volunteers and host community.

The Olympic Opening Ceremony will take place on February 12 and the Olympic Closing Ceremony February 28, 2010, both at the 55,000-seat BC Place Stadium.

This will be the first time in Olympic Games history where the Winter Games Ceremonies will be held indoors, allowing us to stretch the boundaries of spectacle and creativity through state-of-art lighting, image projection and the latest in sound-effects technology.

As with the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Ceremonies are designed to provide inspiration with the Opening and to celebrate triumph in the Closing.

On March 12, 2010, the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony will be presented in BC Place stadium, taking advantage of the scale of the venue to present a world-class spectacle of pageantry, protocol and colourful performance.

On March 21, 2010, the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games Closing Ceremony will be presented in Whistler at the same celebration site used for the Whistler component of the nightly Olympic Victory Ceremonies.

Learn more about the Ceremonies venues.