Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Opening Ceremony Tickets Available

"The Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games will be a wonderful, affordable celebration with spectacular performance components that showcase dance, highlight unique abilities and celebrate the athletes," explained ceremonies producer Patrick Roberge.

The two-hour ceremony, which will take place indoors at BC Place in downtown Vancouver, is an affordable way for families to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience one of the most magical moments of Canada’s Games. Tickets range in price from $30 to $175 and are available to Canadian residents on a first-come, first-served basis at www.vancouver2010.com. For visitors from around the world planing to participate in the Vanoucver 2010 Winter Paralympics, please see more information on international ticket sales at www.vancouver2010.com/paralympic-games/tickets/tickets/international-ticket-sales.

"The Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games will be a wonderful, affordable celebration with spectacular performance components that showcase dance, highlight unique abilities and celebrate the athletes," explained ceremonies producer Patrick Roberge. "We have assembled a top creative team and thousands of volunteers who are just brimming with excitement. We want the entire audience and the athletes to get swept up in the magic as we celebrate their incredible stories and encourage them to reach for their dreams here in Canada in 2010."

The Paralympic Opening Ceremony will be officially opened by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, and promises to be a world-class celebration that will capture the unique spirit and heritage of Canada and the Host Region of the Games. More than 4,000 volunteer performers including dancers, singers, acrobats, athletes, and musicians will celebrate the compelling achievements of the 1,300 athletes and officials from more than 40 countries around the world at the Games.

At the end of the ceremony, the lighting of the Paralympic Cauldron will signal the official start of the Games and the end of the 10-day Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Torch Relay, which will start on 3 March in Ottawa.

An all-Canadian team of 15 experts in costumes, lighting, music, and stage direction are part of the creative team tasked with orchestrating the magical and awe-inspiring moments celebrating the dramatic achievements of Paralympians at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

On 21 March, the Paralympic Winter Games will draw to its official close in the Host Mountain Resort of Whistler in a unique amphitheatre designed especially for the Olympic and Paralympic Victory Ceremonies and the Paralympic Closing Ceremony. The ceremony will be an intimate open air event that will include breath-taking entertainment and the parade of Paralympians from around the world as they march into the amphitheatre. Closing ceremony tickets cost $60.

Tickets for all Paralympic events are available at www.vancouver2010.com. Individual ticket prices to sport events start at $15. Group ticket prices - available for most sport events for groups of 20 or more people - are just $10. More than 70 per cent per cent of all individual tickets are priced at $20 or less.

Customers may also purchase tickets at Main Ticket Centre locations in Vancouver and Whistler operated by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).

For more information, please visit the official website at www.vancouver2010.com.