Olympics Ceremonies- The Opening

134 days left for the 2008 Beijing Olympics to take off. On 8th August 2008 in Beijing in the National Stadium the Olympics will commence with the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony consists of traditional elements and artistic display of dance and theatre which represent the host nation.
The first event to take place is the hoisting of the host nation’s flag and presentation of its national anthem. After that the participating nations walk into the stadium for the “parade of the nations” with their participating athletes. One top contestant from every country carries the flag of the country and leads it.

Usually, Greece marches in first as it was here that Olympics originated, and the nation playing host that is Beijing would march in last. All the other nations would march between the two nations that is Greece and Beijing.

The President of the host nation then makes a speech and declares the Olympic Games open. The 2008 Beijing Olympics flag is brought into the stadium horizontally and is hoisted as the national anthem is played.

The Olympic torch lit in Olympia is then brought into the stadium by an athlete of the host nation. The athlete then carries the torch to the stadium cauldron and lights the fire there after which doves are released in the sky.