In the Beijing stadium on Sunday 24th August 2008 at 3.45pm, the Mayor of Beijing will hand the Olympic flag to the Mayor of London and the UK will become the Olympic host nation.
It’s a moment the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games wants us all to mark and celebrate, and there are many ways in which we can all do this.
In Britain’s major cities, big screens will beam pictures from the stadium into our city centres. Local authorities will raise and fly 2012 flags from civic and cultural buildings. Choirs will sing, and it is hoped there will be many a street party and even family barbecue run to celebrate the moment.
Here In the South West, however, Team South West, the team responsible for getting the most out of the Games for the region, are inviting us all to mark the moment with “two minutes noise”, a creative antidote to the “two minutes silence” we often use to mark more solemn moments in time.
The Team would like our “noise” to be led by the pealing of bells from churches in parishes across the region. This is a Sunday after all, and we have a strong tradition in the South West for both the founding and ringing of bells, and there is nothing like the noise of bells pealing to communicate the collective mood of a community and nation (in this case, it is hoped, the mood to celebrate!).
It is appreciated that there is little time to rehearse a special peal (hopefully this will come later with a new peal composed especially for the 2012 Games themselves?). It is also acknowledged that this is a bank holiday weekend when many ringers may be on their holidays. But just a simple peal should be enough to provide a cue for all who want to participate to make some noise...by singing, whistling, cheering, ringing their bicycle bells or even playing a specially commissioned ringtone!
So this is an invitation to the bellringers of the region to take this opportunity to lead the region in its celebrations and make a huge contribution to two minutes of noise!
If you are able to participate and organise a peal or a celebration in your parish, or you want to know more about the Cultural Olympiad in the South West and other projects and programmes planned, please contact Richard Crowe, the 2012 Creative programmer for the region, on richard.crowe@culturesouthwest.org.uk.
STOP PRESS: with four other regions wanting to join us in our “two minutes noise”, there’s every possibility this will become a national celebration!
Of course, we welcome and encourage the active engagement of all faiths in this event. This is a celebration for us all.
We would like our cacophony to include a specially commissioned ringtone for mobile phones to encourage young people to join in. Using social networks, we would hope to encourage people to congregate outside cultural venues (sports and leisure centres, libraries, theatres and museums) in flash mobs to ring each other and celebrate the handover moment.
Ships sounding their horns at sea, the ringing of Portland stone, choirs, vocal percussion, clapping, junk bands, cheering, steel bands and line dancing are just some of the other suggested ways in which people might participate in marking this moment...please feel free to suggest your own.
An increasing number of other regions are now expressing an interest in joining in” two minutes of noise”. Let’s see if we can make it a UK-wide celebration!
We are also keen to help promote events happening in the region on the day. We want people to know what an active and creative region this is. So please do let us know of the big events happening in your locality. We will then produce a promotional resource to let people know where they can go in the region to experience and celebrate the cultural life of the South West.
