Bangkok, Thailand, July 1, 2023: The Olympic Council of Asia Culture Committee heard an update on preparations for the 110-year celebration of the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China this September.
During a virtual meeting of the OCA Culture Committee on Saturday, members were provided with details of the concert by committee member and project leader Francis Wanandi of Indonesia.
The concert will take place on September 24 – the day after the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games – at the InterContinental Hotel, OCA HQ during the 19th Asian Games.
It will run for two hours from 6pm to 8pm and showcase the diversity of culture and music from the OCA’s five zones. One of the most interesting parts will be the use of traditional musical instruments from throughout Asia.
The 500 guests will include IOC Members, delegates from Asia’s 45 National Olympic Committees, representatives of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC), government officials and sponsors.
Artists will attend from a variety of Asian countries, including Thailand, Japan, India, Indonesia and Kazakhstan, and HAGOC will arrange a performance based on youth and the future by assembling children from schools in the city and region.
The theme of the event will be “One Asia” – and will trace the roots of the modern Asian Games, which was first held in 1951, back to the first recognized international multi-sport games in Asia, the Far Eastern Championship Games in Manila in 1913 – 110 years ago.
The Chair of the OCA Culture Committee, Mrs Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, IOC Member for Thailand, said she was confident that the two-hour anniversary concert would highlight the wide variety of history and culture throughout the continent.
Khunying Patama welcomed the committee members to the virtual meeting and said she was looking forward to “amazing” Asian Games from September 23 to October 8 after the one-year postponement and said the meeting was a “golden opportunity” for members to learn of the developments within the OCA and the work going forward connecting culture and sport.
There was also a presentation on “Spreading the Olympic Values through Art, Culture and Education” by Ms. Frederique Jamolli, Head of International Cultural Affairs of the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage.
Following the presentation, Khunying Patama, who is also Chair of the IOC Culture and Olympic Heritage Commission, said she looked forward to working closely with the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage in the future to promote the Olympic values through art, education and culture at national, regional and international levels.
The Acting Director General of the OCA, Mr. Vinod Tiwari, updated Culture Committee members on the activities of the OCA in the past year, including the preparations for the 19th Asian Games such as the OCA Coordination Committee meeting in Hangzhou, the Chefs de Mission Seminar and the 100-day countdown and flame-lighting ceremony on June 15.