Ten years ago this summer, this city was flooded with elite athletes from all over the planet, plus a seething multitude of sports fans, tourists, and eager volunteers. It was the big one, the event that had cost billions of pounds and untold man-hours: the 2012 London Olympics Games. And despite some serious naysaying from both the world’s and its own media, London really pulled it off. The Games proceeded without major mishap, Team GB brought home 65 medals, and Danny Boyle earned plaudits for an Opening Ceremony that somehow blended Dizzee Rascal, dancing NHS nurses, a farting Mr Bean and the Queen dangling from a parachute into a harmonious whole.
Now, Queen Elizabeth Park is launching a celebration of the Olympics that will be somewhat smaller in scale, but still offer an abundance of sports-inspired fun and games. It will be based in a free pop-up festival site in the park from Sunday July 24 to Monday August 8, with giant screens playing both highlights from the 2012 Olympics and live footage from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. There will be the chance to try Olympic sports including cycling, athletics and tennis, plus music from skiffle band Thrill Collins, karaoke party-starters Massaoke and live DJs. And there will also be loads of slightly bonkers-sounding stuff for kids, including family rave Junior Jungle, kid-friendly drag queen Crayola, quiz game Shirt or Squirt, and wacky science show ‘Wonderstruck’.
Away from the main festival hub, there will also be the chance to pore over Olympic memorabilia at a free exhibition at Lee Valley VeloPark, which offers the chance to see the Olympic and Paralympic torches, eye up some medals and take a selfie with much-maligned one-eyed, Olympic mascot Wenlock. And if you want to tell your fellow sightseers that you won bronze in the modern pentathlon back in 2012 thanks to your dab hand with an épée, literally no one can stop you.
Queen Elizabeth Park, Jul 24-Aug 8. Free.
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