Lantern parade through Belfast for city`s Paralympic Flame Festival

30 July 2012

Free tickets are being made available for the Paralympic Flame Festival in Belfast.

On the morning of Saturday August 25, the Northern Ireland flame will be lit at Stormont with seven district councils lighting their own lantern to take back to their respective areas.

The Belfast flame will visit communities across the city ahead of a lantern parade from the Belfast Waterfront to City Hall that evening. The Paralympic cauldron will then be lit at City Hall.

A special free ticketed event - sponsored by Games partners BT and Sainsbury`s - will be staged in the grounds of City Hall from 6.30pm – 9.40pm with a packed programme of activity and entertainment including:

• performances by Luminous Soul and the Open Arts Choir;
• music and dance showcases;
• displays by Disability Sports NI;
• showcasing of the Paralympic Agitos on the front of City Hall.

Lord Mayor of Belfast Alderman Gavin Robinson said: “We are all limbering up for a fantastic summer of sport with the Olympics already underway; sporting fever is well and truly in the air.

“I think it`s fantastic that Belfast has the opportunity of being part of the Olympics and Paralympic Games and the Flame Festival, along with the lantern parade, promises to be an unforgettable spectacle for the city.

“There will be something for everyone with free entertainment and family fun in the grounds of City Hall and I hope people will come along and join us.”

Paralympic swimmer Laurence McGivern said: “To be part of the 2012 Irish Paralympic Team is really a dream come true. I`ve been involved in competitive swimming since I was 10 years old so really I`ve been training for this moment for the last eight years. I`m swimming well and feeling strong so I`m excited about making my Paralympic debut.”

Flames from Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff will then be taken to Stoke, Mandeville, home of the Paralympics, where the flames will be combined at the Paralympic flame lighting ceremony on August 28 to create the London 2012 Paralympic flame.

Tickets for the City Hall event will be available from the Belfast Welcome Centre, Donegall Place, from Wednesday, August 1, at 10am on a first come, first served basis. Tickets are limited to four per person.

For more information visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk/events or contact the Welcome Centre on 028 9024 6609.

ENDS

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