HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard was the location for a special announcement this morning (Wednesday 18th May) as the city celebrated not only being chosen to be the host city for the launch of the South East Dates for the locations of the evening celebrations and the Olympic Torch Relay but also, Portsmouth will be hosting an Evening Celebration in the city in 2012.
Attracting the Big Screen which is a BBC/LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games)screen to the city in 2008 was the start of putting Portsmouth on the map for 2012 and in the minds of LOCOG. At the beginning of 2010 Drusilla Moody (Portsmouth City Council''s tourism, visitor service and events manager) met with the ceremonies'' team at LOCOG and invited them down to Portsmouth.
Drusilla explains: I showed members of the Cultural and Ceremonies team around the city at the beginning of April 2010, since then we have had a number of negotiations and visits which have resulted in securing this major event for the city in 2012.
From this point in time the city will be part of LOCOG plans for the marketing and promotion of the Relay and the evening celebrations. The torch will also leave the city on the following day. The evening celebrations will be a two hour free event, showcasing local talent alongside entertainment organised by LOCOG.
Portsmouth City Council is already working on a number of other plans for 2012. They are planning a year of events celebrating Dickens 200 and during the Olympics, the Big Screen and live site area will be promoted through the BBC network as a location to watch the games and will have unique Games content.
Drusilla added this will really bring the Olympics to our doorstep and be Portsmouth''s opportunity to be involved and over the coming months we will be working with a number of partners to ensure that the people of Portsmouth and the surrounding area benefit from this exciting opportunity.
Images courtesy of Phil George