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Venue for CHOGM Opening Ceremony Announced
The Sunshine Coast will play host to one of the most culturally
significant events in Australia's history with the announcement
today that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Opening Ceremony
(CHOGM) will be held at the Hyatt Regency Coolum.
Her Majesty The Queen and visiting Presidents and Prime Ministers
from across the Commonwealth will attend the event on Saturday 2
March 2002.
The Federal Government's CHOGM 2002 Task Force is working with
the award winning Great Big Events to stage the one-hour ceremony.
CHOGM spokesman Mr Andrew Reynolds said, "The ceremony has
been designed around the CHOGM 2002 theme, 'Continuity and Renewal',
and will have two components, namely live entertainment and the
official proceedings, all to be staged in a temporary 2000 sq metre
structure in the Hyatt grounds.
"Though somewhat scaled down from the Brisbane CHOGM opening
ceremony, in keeping with the CHOGM 2002 more compact form, the
event will still allow Australia to showcase its diverse talent
and its role in the Commonwealth.
The temporary structure on the grounds of the Hyatt will be transformed
by staging, lighting and special effects, befitting the significance
of such an event."
A range of artists, representing diverse indigenous and contemporary
cultures of the Commonwealth, will tell the story of the Commonwealth
and of Australia through music, dance and song, to engage the audience,
both live in the venue and by television throughout Australia and
the Commonwealth.
The performers range from local groups sourced from the surrounding
Sunshine Coast, to internationally acclaimed Australian musicians
and dancers.
"We're confident the team at the Hyatt Regency Coolum, Great
Big Events and the CHOGM 2002 Task Force will produce an exciting,
colourful and dignified event Australians can be proud of,"
Mr Reynolds said.
Background Information
- CHOGM 2002 will be held at the Hyatt Regency Coolum, Sunshine
Coast, Queensland from 2-5 March 2002.
- Prime Minister John Howard is the host.
- CHOGM is convened every two years, and centres on formal and
informal discussions between the Heads of Government of Commonwealth
nations. The aim is to develop, through consensus, common positions
on issues of importance to the international community and to
Commonwealth countries.
30 January 2002
Contact:
CHOGM 2001 Task Force
Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Tracey Bell
Issues Manager
0408 684 094 / 07 3017 1474
Hyatt Regency Coolum
Susan Hunt-Holmes
Marketing Communications Manager
07 5446 1234
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