London’s unforgettable summer of sporting drama, excitement and achievement draws to a spectacular conclusion with the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
The closing festival, called ‘Festival of Flame’ will feature best-selling British band Coldplay performing live on stage with an estimated worldwide audience of 750 million people.
Jon Snow and Krishnan Guru-Murthy present Channel 4’s coverage of the ceremony from the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, which formally draws the curtain on 11 days of sporting competition that have arguably contributed to producing the greatest Paralympics in the movement’s history.
The Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games celebrates the exuberance of festivals and the changing of the seasons.
Coldplay, one of the world’s best-sellling music acts, lead the evening’s celebrations with a live concert.
The band have been working with the ceremony’s artistic director Kim Gavin and designer Misty Buckley to play a set of their most iconic songs alongside a cast of almost 2,000 inside the Olympic Stadium and an 80,000 capacity crowd.
Gavin said that he hopes the ceremony will “pay tribute to the human spirit for this wonderful sport and human achievement of the last two weeks… the whole night is the celebration of the flame finally going out”.
Led by singer Chris Martin, Coldplay have sold over 55 million records worldwide, scored number one albums in more than 35 countries and have won seven Brit Awards and seven Grammy Awards.
Following the opening festivities, flagbearers of the participating countries enter the Stadium in single file, closely followed by the athletes – a show of unity after 11 days of intense competition.
Four-time London 2012 gold medallists David Weir (athletics) and Sarah Storey (cycling) will jointly carry the Union flag into the stadium.
The night also features the extinguishing of the Paralympic Flame, marking the formal closing of the event, as well as the official handover to a delegation from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, which will host the next Games in 2016.
After the Paralympic Flag has been lowered, the flag of the country hosting the next Summer Games, Brazil, will be raised.
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, then joins Sir Phillip Craven, the President of the IPC, on the rostrum and returns the Paralympic Flag to him, then the IPC President will symbolically present the flag to the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro.
The Paralympic Flame, which has been burning in the Cauldron since the opening of the Games, is then extinguished – a poignant and moving moment for all those involved in the Games and the worldwide audience.
Don’t miss this historic occasion as the greatest Paralympic Games in histroy draws to a close. Full details below:
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This special programme to be broadcast on Channel 4 before the closing ceremony follows conductor Charles Hazlewood as he assembles an orchestra made up entirely of disabled musicians and prepares for their first public concert.
The documentary tells the participants’ stories, from pianist Nicholas McCarthy, who was born without a right arm, to trumpeter Clarence Adoo, who was paralysed from the neck down in a car accident and now makes music on a computer.
7.00pm-11.05pm – PARALYMPICS GAMES 2012 OPENING CEREMONY Presenters: Clare Balding & Ade Adepitan Reporters: Jon Snow, Iwan Thomas Commentator: Krishnan Guru-Murthy & Jeff Adams Official Start: 8.30pmChannel 4’s Paralympics team present live coverage of the Paralympic Games closing ceremony from the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London.
In the 90-minute build-up to the ceremony getting underway, they will look back on the defining moments of an incredible 11 days of sporting competition and on the sensational performances produced by some of the superstars of the ParalympicsGB team.
Coverage is also available in high-definition on Channel 4 HD and online via channel4.com/paralympics.
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BBC Radio 5 live will have exclusive live and uninterrupted radio commentary of the London 2012 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony.
John Inverdale, Gordon Farquhar and guests host live coverage from the Olympic Stadium.
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Live, uninterrupted and commercial break-free coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Closing Ceremony will be stream live online via the official Paralympics website – paralympic.org
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