Please check your preferences. You can change them at any time
Original colours
|
High contrast
|
With just one year to go until the Paralympic Games, the celebrations get under way with a two-day festival at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Check out the full line-up for Sunday and Monday
The Paralympic logo was unveiled at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas – the setting for this weekend's festival (Sérgio Huoliver/Rio 2016)
The hashtag #1YearToGo is going red hot on Facebook and Twitter with the one year milestone to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games coming up on Monday 7 September. Hoping to repeat the huge success of London 2012, where the British public got 100 per cent behind the Games, the Rio 2016 organising committee is staging a free, two-day festival, at the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas – one of Rio's iconic landmarks. Music, dance, film and plenty of sports, are all on the schedule:
Open air cinema
Be inspired by stories of bravery and sporting acheivement with one of the films being shown on the giant screen by the Lagoa, in the Parque dos Patins. On the line-up are Heartbreak and Beauty, The Interviewer, Mano a Mano and World Record (photo) – a Spanish-speaking documentary about Mexican teenager Gustavo Sanchez Martinez who was born without legs or a left hand and went on to become one of the fastest swimmers in the world.
From 9am
Art workshops
The Paralympic mascot Tom will hang out with the children at a series of workshops by Parque dos Patins.
9am-noon, 2pm-5pm
Sprint challenge: the fastest athlete in the world
The world's fastest para-athletes, including Ireland's Jason Smyth, Australian Evan O'Hanlon, USA's Richard Browne and David Brown and the Brazilians Petrucio Ferreira and Felipe Gomes are going to head-to-head in a 100m sprint to determine the fastest Paralympic athlete in the world.
11am
Cultural programme
The dance group Corpo em Movimento were one of the stars of the London 2012 Closing Ceremony and wowed the crowds a few month's back in a flash mob on Copacabana beach to celebrate 500 days till the Paralympic Games. They'll be performing at this weekend's festival alongside Companhia Suave, a dance group who'll show the crowds what passinho is all about – think hip hop meets dance-off in Rio's latest teen craze. DJ João Brasil will be spin his mix of hip hop, funk and electronica on the decks.
From 4pm
Photography exhibition
Relive the best moments from the Parapan American Games in Toronto this year with an exhibition of photographs displayed on 40 solar-powered screens, set up around the Lagoa on Avenida Epitácio Pessoa, by Cantagalo.
Until 15 September
Open air cinema
A giant LED screen by Parque dos Patins will bring sporting acheivement to life with a series of inspiring films and documentaries.
From 9am
Art workshops
Paralympic mascot Tom will be back in action again on Monday, entertaining the children during a series of art workshops.
9am-noon, 2-5pm
Have a go at Paralympic sports
As part of the Rio 2016 education programme Transforma, children over 10 years old and adults will be able to have a go at Paralympic sports, from playing wheelchair tennis to sitting volleyball (9am - noon on the sports court next to the Lagoa helipad) to five-a-side football, wheelchair fencing and boccia (9am - noon, on the astroturf court). Children under nine years old will be able to join in various sports in the kids' playground (9am-noon, Arena Infantil). The activities carry on throughout the afternoon with goalball on the sports courts and running with a guide on the athletics' track, set up in the car park (1-5pm).
9am-noon, 1-5pm
Ottobock Arena
Watch wheelchair basketball and meet the Paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias and the most decorated Brazilian Paralympian, three-time New York marathon winner Edson Dantas, in the Ottobock Arena. Ottobock, a Germany company, is a market leader in the manufacture of prosthetics and wheelchairs and an official Rio 2016 supplier.
9am-5pm
Women's sitting volleyball match – BRAZIL V USA
The match will be played on one of the sports courts near the Lagoa helipad.
10am
Official ceremony
Rio 2016 organising committee president Carlos Arthur Nuzman and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Sir Philip Craven will meet Brazilian medal-winners from this year's Parapan American Games in Toronto.
11am
Sprint challenge final: the fastest athlete in the world
The big moment of the weekend – para-athletes will compete to be crowned the fastest in the world in a 100m sprint, on the athletics' track set up in the Parque dos Patins car park.
12.50pm
Brazilian Terezinha Guilhermina is one of the hopes to win the final challenge (Photo: Getty Images)
Five-a-side football – BRAZIL V ARGENTINA
The Paralympic sport for visually impaired athletes will pitch Brazil against Argentina in a game of two 25-minute halves, on a court next to the Lagoa helipad.
2pm
Wheelchair basketball matches
Rio de Janeiro athletes will group together in teams of three for the wheelchair basketball matches. The first team to score 21 points will win.
3pm
Celebra cultural programme
A Rio de Janeiro party wouldn't be quite the same without some samba, and the inclusive samba school Embaixadores da Alegria will be leading the rhythms at 4pm, near Parque dos Patins. They'll be followed by dance companies Corpo em Movimento and Companhia Suave, with DJ João Brasil back on the decks.
From 4pm
