REHEARSALS have begun for the opening ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
It will be staged in the Alexander Stadium on July 28 in front of a live audience of around 30,000 people with around one billion people expected to tune in across the globe.
Peaky Blinders’ writer and creator, Steven Knight, will lead the creative team and said he was keen to showcase West Midlands talent and diversity.
The show will include the arrival of the Queen’s Baton after it’s tour of the Commonwealth, which has included moments of celebration, visits to schools and famous landmarks, and athletes.
Volunteers who are part of the mass cast have started rehearsing under the watchful eye of chief choreographer, Corey Baker and the members of the ceremony’s creative team including artistic director, Iqbal Khan and writer, Maeve Clarke.
For both the opening and closing ceremonies, around 3,500 costumes will be made which equates to around 19,000 individual items.
The costumes are being created and sewn by volunteers from across the region – they include people already working in the fashion industry and students looking to gain experience.
After the Games many of the costumes will be donated to local schools, colleges, theatre groups and museums.
Tickets for the Opening Ceremony have been incredibly popular but there are a limited number of tickets still available here.
