A three-week smorgasbord of cultural and sporting events is
coming to Beijing on Sunday.
The fourth "Beijing 2008" Olympic Cultural Festival is aimed at
helping urban and suburban communities "experience the civilization
and enjoy the Olympic Games," as the event theme indicates.
The festival, which runs till July 15, includes 28 events
ranging from public sports activities, exhibitions, international
forums, cultural events to outdoor performances.
Highlights include the fourth International Forum on the Beijing
Olympic Games which will contain discussions on the Olympic Games
and film, Olympic-related cultural creativity and Olympic music. It
will last from June 28 to July 14 at the Nirvana Resort.
The forum is expected to attract distinguished guests from all
over the world. Among them are renowned directors, officials from
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic music
producers, who will share on opportunities in China's cultural
industry brought about by the 2008 Games.
Meanwhile, the second annual Beijing International Sports Film
Week will open at the China National Film Museum from June 26 to
July 2. The opening ceremony is to be held at the China National
Film Museum.
More than 30 movies from the Olympic Television Archive Bureau
(OTAB) and other countries and regions will be shown at Beijing's
cinemas, on CCTV's film channel and in local communities to
entertain film fans.
Following its warmly welcomed debut during last year's Olympic
Cultural Festival, the "Olympic Beats" open-air Concert will bring
local residents free shows at the Millennium Monument from 8 to 9
pm every night between June 24 and July 14.
The cultural festival also contains youth programmes featuring
an International Youth Wind Instrument Parade at the Wangfujing
pedestrian street, which has teamed up about 1,500 young wind
players from all over the world.
The festival will also host a concert called "Volunteers in
Beijing" to award the winners of a concluded Olympic-themed domino
contest. Twenty college teams from Beijing will participate in the
contest.
A dozen of songs selected from 800 submitted tunes from the
third annual solicitation for Olympic songs will debut at the
closing gala scheduled at the Century Theatre at 8 pm, July 15.
(China Daily June 24, 2006)
