2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony

2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics (Torino 2006) was held on February 10, 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET (19:00 UTC) at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy.

Part of a series on
2006 Winter Olympics
  • Bid process
  • Venues
  • Opening ceremony (flag bearers)
  • Medal table (medalists)
  • Event calendar
  • Chronological summary
  • Closing ceremony
  • Paralympics (medal table)
  • IOC
  • CONI

The ceremony was attended by 35,000 spectators with the presence of numerous international and Italian guests on the stage and heads of state and government on the stands. The event was broadcast live to an estimated two-billion audience worldwide by 32 television cameras.

The ceremony saluted the region's culture and history, was highlighted by Italian celebrities and showcased Italian designs. There were the customary parade of athletes and raising of the host nation's flag and the Olympic flag. Apart from the choreography, the fireworks, and the pageantry, the ceremony was a reminder of peace as a goal of these Games. It climaxed with the lighting of the Olympic Flame.

Read more about 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony:  Program, Security Measures, Dignitaries and Other Officials in Attendance

Famous quotes containing the words winter, opening and/or ceremony:

    I am less affected by their heroism who stood up for half an hour in the front line at Buena Vista, than by the steady and cheerful valor of the men who inhabit the snow-plow for their winter quarters; who have not merely the three-o’-clock-in-the-morning courage, which Bonaparte thought was the rarest, but whose courage does not go to rest so early, who go to sleep only when the storm sleeps or the sinews of their iron steed are frozen.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “If you do!” She was opening the door wider.
    “Where do you mean to go? First tell me that.
    I’ll follow and bring you back by force. I will!”
    Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)