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Party like it's 2012 in the Mall
Matthew Beard, Evening Standard16.06.08
A free concert for 40,000 people in The Mall will be the centrepiece of celebrations marking the handover of the Olympics to London, it was announced today.
Games chiefs unveiled a programme of festivities for Sunday 24 August, when the capital replaces Beijing as the next Olympic city.
The high point is expected to be at 3pm when images are beamed from China showing the Beijing mayor passing the Olympic flag to his London counterpart Boris Johnson.
The event in Beijing's Olympic stadium will be shown on giant screens at Canary Wharf, Trafalgar Square, Walthamstow, Newham and Notting Hill, to coincide with the weekend's carnival. It will also be broadcast live on BBC1 and Radio 2.
Street parties will also be staged around giant screens in 13 towns and cities, from Middlesbrough to Southampton.
Specially commissioned flags featuring the Olympic logo in red, white and blue will hang from council offices, Olympic venues and other public buildings.
Around 40,000 people are expected in The Mall, with scenes set to match the celebrations of the Queen's Golden Jubilee and the 2004 Olympic torch relay - both staged in front of Buckingham Palace.
Tickets will be available via the London 2012 website today and organisers will confirm the line-up for the event, sponsored by Visa, in the coming weeks.
Mr Johnson said: "It will be fantastic party. We have sorted out what I think is a minor ideological difference - whether it should be the imperialist Trafalgar Square favoured by the previous regime or the more royalist Mall. There will be celebrations in Canary Wharf and at the Notting Hill carnival so you can see members of the Notting Hill Tories breakdancing."
Today London 2012 confirmed the main aspect of the eight-minute handover ceremony in Beijing. This will feature three dance groups - from the Royal Opera House and the contemporary acts CandoCo and Zoonation. David Beckham and X Factor winner Leona Lewis, both East Enders, are expected to tour the arena on board a red double-decker bus. Lewis will perform one of her hits.
Organisers aim to capture the spirit of a modern, vibrant London.
Mr Johnson said: "I'm suspicious of any state sponsored effort to encourage any national mood of euphoria. But looking at what's going to be on show for us I can see it will be a great party. When governments try to come up with the essence of Englishness they always come a cropper."
Reader views (4)
'Scenes set to match the 2004 Olympic Torch relay' - if they promised to match the 2008 relay I might be tempted to go.
But will be interesting to see what acts are desperate, unprincipled or uncool enough to associate themselves with the Olympics and take part in this excruciating 'celebration'.
- Jack Callow, Hackney
Another effort by the Politicos to try to convince people that the "Olympic" games are a worthy cause, rather than what they really are ie a complete and disgraceful waste of public funds.
- John Newton, Wanstead E11
Giant screens at Canary Wharf, Trafalgar Square, Walthamstow, Newham and Notting Hill, good to see South London so well catered for!
- Simon Angliss, London
What a waste of oxygen this whole sorry mess is. Please France, take it off our hands.
- Mikko Takala, Drumnadrochit, Scotland
