London is now the host city for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For the next four years we will start to see cultural projects across the whole of the UK that have been inspired by the Olympic spirit.

Events in Cambridgeshire

Shire Hall, Cambridge
Behind the Scenes at Shire Hall
This is an opportunity for visitors to have a behind the scenes tour of the County Archives and the Conservation Studio.
The flag will be raised for the launch weekend and you can find out more and contribute to ‘The Peoples Record’, the Olympic Archive for Cambridgeshire.
There will be exhibitions on the history of the site, of sporting related documents from the Archive collections, and recent pictures of the Beijing Games, taken by young people from Cambridgeshire.
Guided tours of Cambridge Castle mound will be conducted by one of the County’s archaeologists and there will be a performance of traditional Molly Dance by Year 5 pupils of Lionel Walden Primary School in the grounds of Shire Hall.
Watch the conservator at work, see documents dating back centuries, and enjoy exhibitions about the Olympics and the history of the site.

Welcome speech and Molly Dance 12 noon.
Tours of Cambridge Castle 11am and 12.30pm
Saturday 27th September 10am – 2pm

Cambridge and County Folk Museum, Cambridge
Sporting Heroes, non-stop storytelling event
Three established story-tellers will be using different areas of the museum’s collection to provide an insight into the extraordinary sporting history of both city and county.
Suitable for all ages, entry will be free to anyone bringing along a picture or story of a sporting hero! Otherwise normal admission charges apply (adults £3.50, concessions £2.00, children £1 or free with paying adult).
Saturday 27th September 11am – 3pm

March Market Place
Citius Altius Fortius: Variante Ensemble.
Brass ensemble of eight talented local players will play energetic classics higher, louder & faster for the market visitors.
Saturday 27 September 9:30-11:30am

Whittlesey
Whittlesey Festival at Market Place, Town Hall & The Green, Whittlesey
Community Festival with dance, music, drama and circus art performances to hear, watch and to participate in.
Balls Up Juggling Workshops; Peterborough Highland Band; Alderman Jacobs Country Band; March Operatic Society; Ely & Littleport Country Dancers; New Road School Molly Dancers; Sir Harry Smith Comprehensive School students
performing Shakespeare.
Sunday 28 September 10am-4pm

Wysing Arts Centre, Bourn
Inside Out
Wysing Arts Centre will mark the launch of the Cultural Olympiad with a one day film workshop, facilitated by four film artists who work from studios at Wysing Arts Centre. Artists will work with 20 Dilpoma students from Longsands Community College in small groups to create and edit four one minute long films inspired by themes addressed in Wysing Inside Out, which will then be publically screened on Saturday 27th September as part of ‘Wysing Inside Out’ an exhibition that reveals the unseen spaces at WAC.
The whole of Wysing will be opened up for a two week period and through this event will be showing aspects of the centre not normally seen by the public. 

Friday 26 Sept 6–8pm live performance and music  
Saturday 27 Sept 12pm Anagama Kiln session – tour and fire up ! Guest artists Matthew Blakely, Ben Brierley, Steve Parry.
Saturday 27 Sept 2-4pm - Artist led family workshop £2 per child all ages
Sunday 28 Sept 2pm Artist tour – alternative site tours by Wysing artists

Fitzwilliam Museum
‘Hidden Histories’ Guided Tours
Hidden Histories tours will look at the people behind a selection of objects in the Museum's collections, weaving a number of stories that link the collections with the City of Cambridge and its history.
Free but booking is advisable.
Booking through the Tourist Information Centre on 01223 457574
27 and 28 September Tours at 11am and 2.30pm on the Saturday and 3.30pm on the Sunday.

Ely
Ely Cathedral tower will be lit in the London 2012 Colours from Friday to Sunday evening.

Babylon Gallery, Waterside, Ely.
Free family workshops to create decorative Chinese lanterns and boats from Saturday
27 September, 2pm – 4pm

On Sunday evening a procession led by City of Ely Waits will leave from the Cathedral entrance and proceed through Cherry Hill to Jubilee Gardens, where a performance by Ely Sinfonia will be held before the launch of lights in boats onto the river. Free.
Sunday 28 September, 6 - 7pm

During October

Peterborough will be adding to their Great Eastern Run by creating sculptural forms and installations along the route, in Dogsthorpe. Peterborough will be organising this and will add to the event in a new and innovative way. Depending on funding for the activity, visual artists will work with the different geographical communities (the townships) of Peterborough which are on the course to create scenery e.g. a large sculpture/scenic landscape placed upon a roundabout, roadsides etc. to create visuals for the runners but also develop a sense of place and partaking in the event for the communities.
Sunday 12 October 2008.