Cultural Olympiad / News / Sun 14 Sep 2008

Newsletter No 1 - March 2008: The Cultural Olympiad Goes "Live"

Newsletter No 1 - March 2008: The Cultural Olympiad Goes "Live"

Cultural Olympiad in the South West – Update 1 Richard Crowe, 2012 Creative Programmer, South West
THE CULTURAL OLYMPIAD GOES LIVE
COUNTDOWN TO THE LAUNCH:
MARCH 11TH: RED LETTER DAY

As promised in the Open Skies document, published on the Culture South West website in November 2007, the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) have now published full protocol for engaging with the Olympiad. These can be found attached with this Update as a background briefing paper, and outline the criteria projects must fulfil to be a part of the Olympiad.

Also attached here, in the Going Live document, are details on how to apply for inclusion in the Olympiad programme and use of the distinctive Olympiad brand. Apart from giving you essential additional detail, the document signposts you to the london2012/beinspired website, where you will find the online application form.

All this becomes available as from today...11th March 2008

MARCH 27/28TH: 2008FUSE2012

This two day residential gathering takes place at Dillington House in Somerset. It will bring together a unique mix of creative individuals with project ideas, agencies experienced at delivering projects on the ground and a range of stakeholders and funders from across both the region and the cultural sector.
The aim of the two days is to create new partnerships and consortia to develop existing project ideas and find new ones to populate the Cultural Olympiad in the South West in the first 12-18 months. The formula worked well in January when we trialled it on a smaller scale, over one day, at the National Sailing Academy in Weymouth & Portland, as part of our efforts to identify our first Olympiad project, which we hope will be funded by the Legacy Trust UK.

There are still a few places left on 2008FUSE2012, so do contact me for a booking form and further information if you’re interested. And if you can’t make this one, don’t worry, we’re planning to hold a FUSE event every year up until 2011 to ensure everyone has an opportunity to join in.

AUGUST 24TH: HANDOVER

On Sunday August 24th, when the mayor of Beijing hands the Olympic flag to the major of London at the conclusion of the Beijing Olympic Games, the UK will officially become the host nation for the Olympic Games and we will start the countdown to 2012.

On this day we would like the whole of the UK to mark the start of this once in a lifetime opportunity and join in the celebration. More details of how this might be done nationally
and at a regional level will follow shortly but, in the meantime, if you have plans for an event on this day or would like to suggest ways in which we might all celebrate the occasion, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me...this is a great excuse for a party (especially as the following day is Bank Holiday Monday).

SEPTEMBER 26-28TH: LAUNCH

The Cultural Olympiad will officially launch on the weekend of 26-28th September. The overarching theme of the weekend is that culture in the UK is open for business.
We want to encourage as many cultural and sporting venues as is possible to open their doors to new visitors so they can find out what they have to offer and try something new. This will include theatres, gardens, museums, stadiums, gymns, sports clubs, libraries and heritage sites, but might also include private gardens, private collections and places of interest where the public don’t usually go...
We also want to highlight some of the big events that will be happening in the region over this weekend. We already know about many of these, including the fabulous Inside Out event planned for Portland and the Steeplechase weekend in Langport, but we’re keen to hear about all the events that are happening in the region over this weekend – so please do let us know about yours!

WHERE TO FROM HERE...?

By the end of 2008, there should be between five and ten branded Olympiad projects in the region. A modest number – we’re keen to get it right from the start! But the number will grow as we go through 2009 and 2010 toward the Games in 2012.

News Location