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A race to find the world's fastest para-athlete is one of the highlights at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas on 7 September, to celebrate one year until the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games
Paralympic mascot Tom will be meeting, greeting and sharing the love at the Paralympic Festival (Rio 2016/Marcelo Regua)
This Monday (7 September) is a double celebration in Rio de Janeiro, marking Independence Day in Brazil and the one year until the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games milestone. To celebrate, a two-day Paralympic festival (6-7 September) brings back-to-back sports and culture to Rio's Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, with an unprecendented 100m sprint between some of the world's fastest para-athletes the highlight of the festival's sports schedule, on Monday at 12.50pm.
Click here to see the full Paralympic Festival line-up
Soon after, the inclusive samba school Embaixadores da Alegria will be bringing a lively, local beat to Monday's cultural activities. The samba school from Curitiba is no stranger to the city, having paraded in Rio Carnaval this year, impressing the Sambódromo audience with dance and wheelchair acrobatics. Catch the samba school at 3pm in the Arena Celebra area in the Parque dos Patins next to Lagoa.
“Let's celebrate Independence Day with plenty of music, film, dance and sport, with our families, and being inspired by these great Paralympic athletes,” says Carla Camurati, the director of Rio 2016's culture programme. After the samba school, visitors will be able to watch motivating sports films and documentaries being shown on a giant screen.
Yet more impressive wheelchair choreography will follow with the Corpo em Movimento dance company, whose wheelchair dancers performed during the London 2012 closing ceremony. “It's such a joy to dance and show people shut up at home, thinking their life is over, that there's so much to live for, despite our disabilities," enthuses Vanessa Andressa, one of the wheelchair dancers in the Corpo em Movimento dance company.
The party will be going strong into the evening with batalha do passinho – a dance-off fusion of break and funk carioca that started in Rio's favelas. Keep an eye out for groovemeister Michel do Passinho, something of a teenage TV star for his lightning-fast moves, despite not having the use of his arms. DJ João Brasil will be keeping the beat on the decks.
The sports highlights will include the unprecedented 100m challenge (12.50pm) and a five-a-side football match (2pm) between the visually-impaired teams from Brazil and Argentina – the best in the world.
Fine out more about buying tickets to the Paralympics
