Race over for Games' opening ceremony tickets - It's a sellout!

Tuesday 19 May 2015

Tickets for next month's opening ceremony of the NatWest Island Games were all snapped up within just 14 minutes of going on sale.

6,000 people all over the world logged on to secure tickets for the event in Howard Davis Park on Saturday 27 June - an evening designed to showcase Jersey's history and traditions, language and people.

Organisers hope those who didn't manage to get any will get to enjoy the ceremony when it's streamed live on to giant screens in Liberation Square and St Aubin.

The Chairman of the Organising Committee Phil Austin said: "I'm sorry for anyone who wanted to go to the Opening Ceremony but has been unable to get a ticket, and I hope that they go to the two sites of the screens, both of which will also have a great atmosphere. There will be more than 900 sporting events taking place over the week, all of which are free and almost all of which will be unticketed, and I hope that islanders will also go, not only to cheer on Team Jersey, but also to see the thousands of fantastic sportsmen and women from around the world who are competing.

“The tickets went on sale at 2.30pm because we wanted to make them simultaneously available to the public of all Islands and that time-frame was the most convenient to the vast majority. There has been demand for Opening Ceremony tickets from all 24 islands.

"We were limited to 6,000 tickets and we have had to be as fair as possible to everyone, and I think we have achieved that. We are putting on the biggest NatWest Island Games ever, and the high demand is the price of that success. I hope that everyone will enjoy the ceremony, whether they are in the Games Village or watching on a screen, and that they then follow what promises to be a fantastic week of sport."

Local performers will be giving the thousands who did manage to secure tickets a taste of Island life on the night. Jèrriais-singing pop-folk band – the Badlabecques - and Jersey-born singer and song-writer Michelle Rowsell are among the line up confirmed but the organisers say it’s the competitors themselves who will be the real stars of the show.

ITV Channel’s Jess Dunsdon and Mark McQuillan and St Brelade Deputy Murray Norton will host the ceremony that will also see performances by the Band of the Island of Jersey, The Jersey Youth Orchestra and Jersey Youth Choir – the new choir put together especially for the Games – and the Fleur De Lys Signing Choir from St Mary’s School.

Well-known local singer Monty Taft will also take to the stage and there will be plenty of performance artistes and dancers choreographed by Christophe Chateau to entertain the crowds.

The Closing Ceremony on Friday 3 July will have a more relaxed feel and is only open to the competitors and their teams and supporters.

Organisers say it “promises to be a great end to the week."

Deputy Norton and Katy Ringsdore, who used to work together on the Channel 103 Breakfast show, will host the show that features a whole host of talented and well-known locals including Jaime Boylan, The Jersey Bounce, Chaz Chapman, Kelly McKenzie and PwC Jersey Young Musician of the Year 2015 Samuel Walwyn.

Tallia Storm, who is new to the Island, will be giving her first performance in Jersey on the night.

The Park opens for the Opening Ceremony at 5 pm and the event kicks off at 7 pm.