2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

2016 Summer Olympics
opening ceremony

Time	20:00 BRT (UTC−3)
Date	5 August 2016
Location	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Coordinates	22°54′43.80″S 43°13′48.59″W / 22.9121667°S 43.2301639°WCoordinates: 22°54′43.80″S 43°13′48.59″W / 22.9121667°S 43.2301639°W

The opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games will take place on the evening of Friday 5 August in the Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro starting at 20:00 BRT (UTC−3).^[1] As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings will combine the formal ceremonial opening of this international sporting event (including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes) with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation’s culture.

The creative directors for the ceremony will be two Brazilian renowned film directors: Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener), and the producer Daniela Thomas (who co-directed the handover from London 2012) and Andrucha Waddington.^[2]

The face value of the tickets for spectators of the opening ceremony are ranging from R$200 (category E, and only sold in Brazil) to R$4,600 (category A).

Preparations and budget

The ceremonies (opening and closing for the Olympics and Paralympics) will be low-budget productions compared to the ceremonies earlier in London (2012), or in Beijing (2008). The plans are caught up in the economic and political upheaval besetting Brazil. The country is mired in a recession, from both economic and political perspectives. Fernando Meirelles, the Brazilian filmmaker and part of the creative team, estimated that Rio will spend one-tenth what London did on the four major ceremonies. London spent approximately £80 million ($104 million at 2012 exchange rates). Meirelles stated: "I would be ashamed to waste what London spent in a country where we need sanitation; where education needs money. So I'm very glad we're not spending money like crazy." Meirelles further said that "high-tech" was being eliminated from the ceremonies. He listed drones, complex aerial equipment and disappearing stages as items that Rio would do without. The emphasis will be on the basics.

Venue

For the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics and Paralympics, a major reconstruction project was initiated for the Maracanã Stadium. The original seating bowl, with a two-tier configuration, was demolished, giving way to a new one-tier seating bowl.^[3] The original stadium's roof in concrete was removed and replaced with a fiberglass tensioned membrane coated with Polytetrafluoroethylene. The new roof covers 95% of the seats inside the stadium, unlike the former design, where protection was only afforded to some seats in the upper ring and those above the gate access of each sector.

The ceremony

Fernando Meirelles said in September 2015 that the ceremony will be a vision of the country "and what I hope it will become". Meirelles said he will try to steer away from cliches, but not all of them; for example, the carnival has been confirmed to be a part of the ceremony.^[4]

Cauldron

On April 27, the Rio´s city government confirmed that the cauldron will be not inside the stadium during the games. After the opening ceremonies, the cauldron will be placed at Port of Rio de Janeiro Porto Maravilha (Marvelous Port) reurbanization precinct, one of the main projects of the games. While it is common for the Winter Olympics, it is the first time on the history of the Summer Games where the Olympic cauldron will be placed outside the Olympic Stadium, because Rio de Janeiro will be the first city in history to have two Olympic stadiums.^[5]

Officials and guests

• Miloš Zeman (Czech President)^[6]

References

1. "Tickets". 31 March 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
2. "Rio Olympics committee reveals opening ceremony details". 29 July 2015.
3. "Maracanã". The Stadium Guide.
4. "Rio Olympics organizers: Opening ceremony will be cheap". 22 September 2015.
5. "Cauldron will placed at Rio Port". 27 April 2016.
6. "Czech President confirms he will attend Opening Ceremony of Rio 2016".