A full dress rehearsal is taking place tonight of the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Danny Boyle is pictured with cast and crew and a model of the opening scene. Picture: Dave Poultney/LOCOG

London 2012: Full dress rehearsal tonight for opening ceremony of Games

Sarah Shaffi, Olympics editor (news) Wednesday, July 25, 2012
4:32 PM

A second full dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will take place this evening.

There will be around 60,000 spectators watching the rehearsal, with 57,000 of them expected to arrive by public transport through Stratford and West Ham, and a further 3,500 by coach.

Gates will be opened to people at 5pm, and spectators are expected to depart between 10pm and 10.30pm.

Transport for London (TfL) has warned that there will be high numbers of pedestrians during the event in and around Stratford, and that there could be traffic delays around the venue.

Artistic director Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony, titled Isles of wonder after a line from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, will open with the ringing of the largest harmonically-tuned bell in the world, produced by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

Although much of the ceremony is under wraps, its opening scene will present a picture postcard view of the British countryside, containing farm animals, families taking picnics, sport being played on the village green and farmers tilling the soil.

Each of the four nations of the United Kingdom will be represented by their national flower– the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and flax from Northern Ireland.

One of our most famous institutions, the NHS, will be represented, with scenes involving hospital beds being pushed around the arena, and real NHS staff taking part.