Called 'Festival of the Flame', the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games celebrates the exuberance of festivals and the changing of the seasons. British band Coldplay, one of the world's bestsellling music acts, lead the evening's celebrations with a live concert.
The Closing Ceremony celebrates the achievements of athletes at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and includes a Handover from one Host City to the next: Rio 2016. The Closing Ceremony also features the extinguishing of the Paralympic Flame, signalling the end of the Games.
Coldplay have been working with Artistic Director Kim Gavin and Coldplay’s live show co-designer and Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony designer Misty Buckley to play a set of their most iconic music alongside a cast of almost 2,000 in the Olympic Stadium. The band have sold over 55 million records worldwide, scored number one albums in more than 35 countries and have won seven Brit Awards and seven Grammy Awards. The band
As with the Opening Ceremony, there are certain elements that must feature as outlined in the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Charter. The artistic performance of the Ceremony then gets underway and celebrates the success of the Games.
Read more about the creative team behind the Closing Ceremony
March of the athletes
The flagbearers of the participating delegations enter the Stadium in single file, closely followed by the athletes – a show of unity after 11 days of intense competition.
After the Paralympic Flag has been lowered, the flag of the country hosting the next Summer Olympic Games (Brazil) will be raised. The Mayor of the Host City (London) then joins the President of the IPC on the rostrum and returns the Paralympic Flag to him. The President of the IPC then symbolically presents this to the Mayor of the next Host City of the Games (Rio de Janeiro).
Handover Ceremony
Extinguishing of the Flame
The Paralympic Flame, which has been burning in the Cauldron since the opening of the Games, is then extinguished – a poignant and moving moment for all those involved in the Games and the audience at large.
Creative team
A host of world-class British directors and producers are leading the artistic team to stage the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the London 2012 Games.
Artistic Director Kim Gavin is the creative force behind some of the biggest live events in recent years, including the Concert for Dian in 2007, the 2010 Help for Heroes concert and Take That’s critically acclaimed stadium tours – Circus in 2009 and Progress in 2011.
