Closing Ceremony to be the ultimate after-show party

The London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, which will start at 9pm today, is set to celebrate the amazing sporting feats of the athletes who have taken part in the Games with a fun, colourful and festive party. Closing Ceremony Director Kim Gavin said: 'We want it to be the best after-show party there has ever been.' Featuring more than 4,100 performers, including 3,500 adult volunteers and 380 schoolchildren from the six east London Host Boroughs, the Closing Ceremony will showcase the great creative talent of the UK. Kim Gavin, who has masterminded spectacular stage shows for acts including Take That in the past, explains its focus: 'It is about British creativity in the arts. There is a hell of a lot of talent and music and a hell of a lot of show in the show.' Starting with an introduction to daily life in London, the Ceremony will then see the athletes of all nations enter the Stadium. Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor ever, will carry the flag for Britain. The volunteers of the Games will then be thanked, before the main segment of the Ceremony begins: 'A Symphony of British Music' will celebrate the fact that music has been one of Britain’s strongest cultural exports over the last 50 years. At the end of the Ceremony, there will be a handover to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games, and the Olympic Flame will be extinguished, signalling the end of the Olympics. The Stadium will then come alive for one last time in these Games with celebrations. From : Qatar Olympic Committee