Former South African president Nelson Mandela, music acts U2 and The Corrs, and the largest Riverdance group ever assembled, top the bill for the opening ceremony of the 2003 Special Olympics World Games in Dublin.
Taking place on June 21st at Croke Park, the event will entail the construction of a 250 feet by 85 feet stage on Hill 16 and 14,000 sq metres of field cover to protect the playing surface.
A dance routine performed by 350 representatives from host towns throughout the country will open the three-hour show, which will be broadcast live on RTÉ. Coloured flags, stitched together by the prisoners and staff of Mountjoy Prison, will be handed out to the 65,000-strong audience for incorporation into performances.
Further musical and artistic acts are to take place ahead of the parade of athletes - 7,000 from 160 countries are due to attend.
The "centrepiece", according to the organisers, will be a rendition of a specially composed Athlete's Song, May We Never Have to Say Goodbye. Incorporating the National Symphony Orchestra and a choir of 500, the performance will trumpet the arrival of the Olympic flame and flag, the climax of the ceremony.
Ms Mary Davis, chief executive of the games' organising committee, said the event would have "all the pageantry and style of the very best opening ceremony of any Olympics". Confirming the attendance of Mr Mandela, she said "we're absolutely thrilled to have him because he is such an inspiration for all of us, and all the volunteers."
She was speaking at a function in Croke Park yesterday where details of the event, along with a guide to the closing ceremony on June 29th, were announced.
Ms Rita Lawlor, a member of the committee who competed as an athlete in the Special Olympics in the US in 1987, said the latter ceremony was "going to be a great party".
Thanking all those who had helped to make the games possible, she added: "You are helping to change people's attitudes towards learning disabilities."
Also in attendance at the function were entertainer Patrick Kielty, who is to be master of ceremonies on the opening night, and Mr Denis O'Brien, chairman of the organising committee.
Announcing details of the celebrity line-up, Mr John McColgan, executive director of Tyrone Productions, which is producing the event along with MCD, said those attending "almost without hesitation said yes".
Tickets for the opening ceremony are free of charge and will be distributed initially to the 160 participating delegations, their families and supporters - close to 20,000 of whom are to due to travel to Ireland. The 177 host towns will also receive an allocation, along with athletes, families and coaches in Special Olympics Ireland who are not part of the games.
Details of the closing ceremony, produced by MCD, will be announced early next month. A two-hour concert is planned as part of a tribute to the games' 30,000 volunteers.
