In any international sports event, the opening ceremony will be the beautiful start in which there will be exciting aesthetic events, followed by a parade march in which players representing their countries led by respective flag bearers march along the parade, thus making the environment an exciting one. Likewise, the Opening Ceremony of Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022, which will be held on 28th July 2022, will make the viewers excited with beautiful events and parade march. The ceremony will be hosted by the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham and will start at 11.30 PM Sri Lankan time
This beautiful opening ceremony will commence with the hoisting of the flag of England, followed by the performance of the National anthem of United Kingdom. Along with the flag of England, the flag of the Commonwealth games federation, the flag of the last hosting nation (Australian Flag) and the flag of next hosting nation (Again the Australian Flag) will be hoisted.
Then England, being the host nation, presents artistic displays of music, singing, dance and theatre representative of its culture. England director Iqbal Khan stated that the ceremony will showcase the “vivid and vibrant confidence” of Birmingham. Moreover, the event is scheduled to be headlined by Birmingham based New wave band Duran Duran. In past years, cultural programmes by other nations have also been a part of the opening ceremony, most notably a Sri Lankan cultural dance performance performed at the 1990 Opening ceremony in Auckland.
After that, the athletes’ parade enters the stadium grouped by nation. As per the tradition, Australia as the host of last games, will enter first, followed by the rest of Oceania region. Following this, the countries from Africa, America, Asia, the Caribbean and lastly Europe enter in alphabetical order. England, as the host nation, enter last.
The athletes’ parade will be the proud moment for viewers and athletes. They will be happy and proud, when they see the athletes from their countries marching in the parade, led by the flag bearers. In the same way, Sri Lanka will be proud to see their 110 athletes, led by Cricketer Chamari Athapaththu and Weightlifter Indika Dissanayake, the flag bearers of Sri Lanka. This will be the first time the Commonwealth Games will have dual flagbearers representing both the male and female athletes of each nation, following the example set by the Tokyo Olympics last year. The other athletes who have had the honour of bearing the national flag have included the likes of medal winners Chinthana Vidanage, Sriyani Kulawansa and Lakshman Rajasinghe. Unlike the Olympic Games where flag bearers have only been present since 1948, the Commonwealth Games has had flagbearers in every opening ceremony starting from the very first in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada
Another major part of the proceedings is the Commonwealth Games oath, taken by a local athlete representing the host country where it is stated, “"We shall take part in the Commonwealth Games in the true spirit of sportsmanship, recognising the rules which govern them and desirous of participating in them for the honour of our Commonwealth and the glory of sport." While the identity of the giver of this oath is yet unknown, it is likely to be a prominent athlete from the England team, likely hailing from the host city of Birmingham
Then speeches are given, which officially declares open of the Commonwealth Games. This beautiful ceremony will conclude with bringing the Queen’s baton and being passed on until it reaches the final baton carrier, who will then hand it over to the Head of Commonwealth or her delegate.
The Commonwealth Opening Ceremony, as a whole, will be a beautiful environment depicting the culture of England, and that of Commonwealth games. The overall event will show the talents of athletes, linked together with the opening and closing ceremonies, thereby achieving the motto “Games For Everyone”.
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