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The Prosser Perspective.... a weekly column from Dover and Deal MP Gwyn Prosser

2 October 2008

Last weekend saw the launch of the Cultural Olympiad and over 160 organisations took part in all sorts of events and celebrations all over the country during the Olympiad 'Open Weekend' and in my view, our home grown fireworks spectacular on the seafront entitled “Light Up, Open Up Dover� led the field.

In the UK’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games we promised to make the 2012 Games accessible to everyone and to build on the vision of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Modern Olympic movement. Pierre wanted an Olympic Games that demonstrated an inextricable link between sport, culture and education and last week’s Open Weekend and the cultural programme which has been planned over the coming four years, shows the Government’s commitment to this ideal.

Over £40 million has already been promised to promote cultural activities across the country that will build to create a welcome for the exciting staging of the 2012 Games and ‘Open Weekend’ will be followed by the launch of ten major projects over the next four years. Together, these events will fulfil our commitment that the London 2012 Games will involve and inspire everyone in the UK and across the world.

While sport will always be the principle focus of the Olympics it’s by no means the whole and last weekend’s launch of the four year Cultural Olympiad underlines the importance of promoting all aspects of British and international culture in the run up to 2012.

But our local event had dual purpose. Like last month’s Olympic flag-raising events on Dover promenade and Deal Pier – ‘Light Up Dover’ was a celebration of the wider cultural elements of next Games but it was also another important staging point in our campaign to bring the 2012 torch through White Cliffs Country.

We see so many spectacular and super spectacular firework shows on our television screens these days, such as the New Year celebrations and the breath-taking Beijing opening ceremonies that local displays find it difficult to compete, but the thousands of spectators who lined Dover’s seafront last Friday night were not disappointed.

The fire show was a celebration of the town's rich history and quite fittingly it had a rich maritime focus and was displayed from small boats which criss-crossed the inner harbour to maximise the dramatic effect. Like any fire display, the imagery is very much in the eye of the beholder but I was content to see the skies lit up with flotillas of ships, reflections of the White Cliffs, the unmistakable Olympic Rings and, of course that giant Olympic Torch that flared into the sky and raced across the water reinforcing our ambition to re-inact the 1948 torch relay through Dover in 2012.

This was no ordinary fireworks display – this was something special and it was clear that the good people of Dover and their children thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. But more important than that they took pride in the success of Dover’s very special evening – eat your heart out Beijing.