Olympic Torch relay changeover, Cardiff Road, Newport Pic: Robin Drayton
The Olympic Games is just over a week away and there is bound to be much excitement when the Torch relay finally arrives in Tower Hamlets and Hackney this Saturday, two of the five designated Olympic boroughs.
On day 64 of the relay, the Torch will be returning to the borough where it began its life, designed by Hackney studio Barber Osgerby.
Come rain or shine, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Torch and the streets of the East End are expected to be thronged with hundreds of people cheering on the Torchbearers, people who have been selected for the honour because they have made a real impression on other people’s lives, like Hackney youngster Sean Glendinning who we have profiled this week.
The fun starts in Tower Hamlets, where the torch begins its route at Bow Road at approximately 1.50pm. A party in the park at Stepney Green will be host to lots of activities, events and performances, including from the winners of the CBBC Sports Relief Does Glee Club 2012 – Faye Guy, Redcoat Girls Project Dance Group, Soytten Sen School of Performing Arts, Fabulous Lounge Swingers and Bowjangles. Face painting workshops, wall climbing and a bouncy castle are among many of the other activities taking place throughout the day.
Hackney will be kicking off the big day with its One Hackney Festival. Celebrate ‘Brazilian style’ as the borough hosts a 2000 strong carnival procession, including 400 Brazilian carnival performers from Rio. It follows a series of artistic exchanges between some of Brazil’s most famous award winning carnival groups and UK counterparts to build ties with Brazil’s Olympic Games – Rio 2016. The event is commissioned by CREATE – an organsation that brings artists and performers together to create art in east London. The procession sets off at 10:30 from Shoreditch Park, so make sure you don’t miss it!
You can check out the routes through your areas and read about all the Torchbearers taking part by clicking on EastLondonLine’s map below.
On Saturday, we will be live blogging right here on the site from out along the route and covering all the associated events in both boroughs on what is certain to be a big day out in the East End. So let us know where you will be watching or whether you know someone who is a Torch bearer or whether you are a Torch bearer yourself, by commenting below or joining the conversation on Twitter, we’re @eastlondonlines. We would also love to see your pictures of the day.
[ell-gmap-iframe mapurl=”https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=217456513140566811103.0004c4424bc0effe5c44c&msa=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=51.560424,-0.028839&spn=0.115258,0.328903&z=12&output=embed”]
Unfortunately, the Olympic organisers LOCOG is currently unable to provide ELL with details of which section of the route that each of the Torchbearers will be running, but as soon as we get that information, we will let you know.
Watch this space for our map for Monday’s leg of the relay through Lewisham and Croydon.
