The Richmond O Zone
Feb.12-28, 2010
Minoru Park & Richmond City Hall
The O Zone, stretching over 60 acres in the heart of Richmond City Centre, is the largest official celebration site of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Presented by CTV, the Richmond O Zone will feature 100 hours of free live performances over 17 nights on its Main Stage. Notable confirmed performers include Bedouin Soundclash and Hey Ocean (Feb. 13); Kathleen Edwards (Feb. 15); Hawksley Workman (Feb. 17); Our Lady Peace and Arkells (Feb. 18); Marianas Trench (Feb. 19); Wintersleep (Feb. 25); Toyko Police Club (Feb. 26); and The Dudes and The Stills on Feb. 27. All performances are free.
The O Zone will also offer opportunities to meet Olympic champions, including Olympic Gold medallists Clara Hughes, Carol Huynh and Kyle Hamilton, nightly draws for Olympic tickets and the chance to watch live simulcasts of Olympic competition with a few thousand of your closest friends on a giant 42-metre screen.
Special fireworks shows are planned for Feb. 9 12, 14 and 28. BC Lotteries is presenting the opening and closing night fireworks along with its popular 2010 Games Dome, featuring the chance to try your hand at Olympic sport simulations and win Olympic tickets.
You can’t have an Olympic Winter Games without ice, especially in the home city of the Richmond Olympic Oval, the premier venue of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Exclusive to the Ozone is the Ice Gate, a mammoth and spectacular ice art installation by Paintings Below Zero artist Gordon Halloran. The Ice Gate is presented by Inniskillin Wines, an Official Wine Supplier of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Inniskillin will also present a 60-foot tasting bar, the Icewine Gallery, where wine lovers can sample Icewine (including Inniskillin’s Commemorative Icewine), with proceeds benefiting Canadian athletes).
Meanwhile, the Ice Zone, uniquely-configured to resemble an infinity symbol, will offer free outdoor public skating on real ice while the World Ice Art Competition will feature international teams of ice carvers competing to create ice art masterpieces on Feb. 19-21.
Other highlights include a rare Chinese New Year performance outside of Asia by Taiwan’s F.I.R. In 2004, F.I.R. exploded onto the Asian music scene winning Best New Artist and Best New Idol in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing and Taiwan and have not looked back since. On Christmas Day, 2009, F.I.R. released their fifth studio album Let’s Smile, which has already risen to No. 1 on many Asian music charts. In addition to their O zone show, F.I.R. will also perform on Feb. 15 at River Rock Theatre. Tickets for that show are avaialble through Ticketmaster. F.I.R. headlines Chinese New Year celebrations in the O Zone that include an extraordinary double dragon dance and an evening fireworks show.
Spirit of Uganda Headlines the O Zone’s World Beat night on Feb. 16. Ambassadors for Uganda’s 2.4 million orphans, these children and youth aged 8 to 18, present a riveting program of music and dance: melodic tones of standing drums, dramatic choreography, bright, layered rhythms, and gorgeous call-and-response vocals.
Circus lovers will get a double delight on Feb. 27 with a visit from Newfoundland’s Wonderbolt Circus. Combining elements of circus and theatre, Wonderbolt will stage two performances of its new circus show, Tricksters.
The latest addition to the O Zone is BC Street, a chance to experience all the attributes and unique characteristics of Beautiful BC in a single showcase. Go for a walk on BC Street and you can sample some home grown wine on stomp grapes from a local vineyard in the South Okanagan-Similkameen, taste fresh caught salmon and halibut from Sooke’s world famous fishing spots and ride the West Coast surf in Tofino and much more.
In the heart of the O Zone will be the ultimate entertainment hotspot, the Holland Heineken House, the must-visit destination at the Olympic Games. Festooned in orange, full of fun-loving Dutch sports fans and free to the public, Holland Heineken House will feature top Dutch performers and DJs nightly. Holland Heineken House will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
HOURS: The O Zone is open 3 to 11 p.m. weekdays and noon to 11 p.m. weekends from February 12 to 28. The O Zone will also be home to Richmond’s Olympic Torch Relay Community celebrations on February 9.
LOCATION: Minoru Park and at Richmond City Hall, The Richmond Ozone is just a few minutes walk from the Canada line. Visitors are encouraged to take transit, walk, cycle or use other means of transport to get to the site, as there is no parking available on site. A number of park-and-ride lots are available on transit routes throughout Richmond. The Richmond is O Zone is hosted by the City of Richmond, with additional funding support from Tourism Richmond.
A full calendar of events is now available at http://www.richmondozone.ca
