Kazan to celebrate ‘One Year to Go’ to the Games with Noise

KAZAN – The city of Kazan is set to mark a milestone event today on July 6th, 2012 – exactly one year to go until the Opening Ceremony of the 27th Summer Universiade. A whole range of unique festivities awaits the sports capital of Russia, offering citizens of Kazan a small taste of the atmosphere the Games will bring to the city in the summer of 2013.

Celebrations will take place at various sites around the city. One of the most remarkable and symbolical events on the programme is the opening of a giant clock that that will count down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the 2013 Summer Universiade. The unique art object will be unveiled in Bauman street and promises to become an iconic symbol of the main pedestrian street.

Another important event on the programme is the admission ceremony for newly appointed Kazan 2013 Ambassadors. Olga Shelest, the famous TV presenter; Dmitry Sautin, the two-time Olympic champion and holder of a record number of eight Olympic diving medals; artists Polina Gagarina and JukeBox trio will join the ranks of many great Kazan 2013 Ambassadors and make a solemn pledge to promote the ideas of the 27^th Summer Universiade.

A themed exhibition will be available at the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan for those enthusiasts who want to know everything about the 2013 Summer Universiade.

A whole array of festivities will unfold in the square near the Galiaskar Kamal Tatar Academic Theatre. Streetball and football freestyle tournaments, an asphalt drawing contest, RC motor boat and airplane model shows await those who will come to celebrate one year to go to the 2013 Games. A sailing regatta will take place out on the waters of Lake Kaban. The site near the Galiaskar Kamal Tatar Academic Theatre will also play host to another momentous event – the start of the 2013 Summer Universiade Torch Relay. Five young people representing five continents of the world will take a torchbearer’s oath. The event itself is just a solemn see-off ceremony for the delegation going after the 2013 Summer Universiade Flame as the Torch Lighting Ceremony itself will take place in Paris on July 12th.

Another venue for Universiade fans to celebrate one year to go is the Kazanzkaya Yarmarka Exhibition Centre. The venue’s programme includes cheerleading skill demonstrations and masterclasses by trainers and instructors of the Planet Fitness Club. A live gig headlined by the Jukebox trio and Polina Gagarina, Kazan 2013 Ambassadors, will start at 4pm here. The concert will also feature performances by winners of the projects held under the auspices of the Cultural Universiade and UNI-reserve.

The Syrtlanova Park will host a unique sporting event; sport fans and curious passers-by will be able to attend the 1^st Mayor’s Cup All-Russian Open Street Sports Tournament MIK Street Workout.

The official part of the festivities will include the signing of agreements with Aeroflot, (General Partner and Official Airline of the Kazan 2013 Summer Universiade), Forward (Official Sportswear Partner of Kazan 2013), English First (Partner of Kazan 2013) and Planet Fitness (Official Fitness Club of Kazan 2013).

Also attending the countdown events will be Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov. Together with thousands of students, he will take part in the ‘Kazan 2013: One Year to Go’-concert that will be held in the Pyramid Culture and Entertainment Complex. All participants of the ‘One Year to Go’-celebrations in Bauman street, square near the Galiaskar Kamal Tatar Academic Theatre and other key venues of the future World University Summer Games – 45,000-seat football stadium and Universiade Village – will get connected with Pyramid, the centre stage of the festivities, via video conferencing and the President of Tatarstan will launch the countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the 2013 Summer Universiade.

Tickets for the 2013 Summer Universiade will go on sale on July 6^th, 2012 to celebrate the ‘One Year to Go’ countdown to the 27^th World University Summer Games. In accordance to the ticketing programme, the first released tickets will include those for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The first wave of tickets that will be issued will be the cheapest: from 750 to 2,500 rubles.

The first Kazan 2013 official merchandise store will also be opened today in downtown Kazan. The booth will be situated at 47 Ostrovsky street and will be a good place to buy products bearing the logo of the 27th Summer Universiade.

And, to crown it all, the ‘Kazan 2013: One Year to Go’-talk show will air live on the TNV (Tatarstan Novy Vek) Channel. Top managers of the Kazan 2013 team and volunteers will gather in the TV studio to talk about the preparations for the Games and rich legacy that the Summer Universiade will leave for Russia, Tatarstan and Kazan.

(Source: Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Committee)