POSTED: Thursday June 9th 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MUNICH 2018'S SUMMERTIME SPORTS SPECTACULAR AT ICONIC ALLIANZ ARENA

‘Stars, the Winter Games and You!’ festival to celebrate Olympic and Paralympic winter sports

Munich, 9 June 2011: Germany’s unmatched passion for winter sports and the snowballing public support for Munich’s bid for the 2018 Winter Games will come together on Saturday 11 June when the city’s iconic Allianz Arena hosts ‘Stars, the Winter Games and You!’, a huge celebration of winter sports with:

  an estimated 25,000 winter sports fans
  40 world-famous sports ambassadors
  more than 800 young athletes participating in the show
  seven international performance artists
  live nationwide television broadcast
  eight hours of family entertainment

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee and its partner Allianz SE are inviting fans from across the nation to support the event, where Munich’s credentials for hosting international mega-events with a uniquely Bavarian flavour will take centre stage. Sporting heroes past and present will lead the festivities, alongside world-famous musicians and performers. Inclusivity is the watchword this weekend, with tickets starting at just €5 and the event being broadcast live on national television.  25,000 people are expected to attend and the carnival atmosphere will offer a small taste of the unforgettable Festival of Friendship that will greet the entire Olympic family in 2018 should the Winter Games be awarded to Munich.

CEO of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee, Bernhard Schwank, is excited by the prospect of a celebration dedicated to Bavaria’s true passion - winter sports:

‘It’s really great that people from across the nation will join us in Munich this weekend to back the bid - it shows just how much the public is behind us. We also get to show the world that Munich is the place to be for winter sports, even in the height of summer!  The fans and performers will enjoy an exhilarating atmosphere. The whole stadium will be buzzing with excitement and anticipation - just what you need for a successful Winter Games. Passionate engagement from the fans is something the international sporting community can expect when visiting Munich and this event will be no exception.’

At the ‘Stars, the Winter Games, and You!’ celebration, each Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games discipline will be represented by huge balloon icons as, for one day only, football gives up the limelight at the Allianz Arena. The event will help spread the Olympic spirit to all ages, with young families invited to try their hands at the winter sports in the stadium.

Munich 2018 sports ambassadors Georg Hackl, three-time Olympic champion in luge, and Markus Wasmeier, two-time Olympic champion in alpine skiing, will also take to the stage in support of the bid and showcase their skills for the public. Speaking ahead of the much-anticipated event, Markus Wasmeier said:

‘This really will be a great day. We Bavarians will show what we can do. People will experience the Allianz Arena from two very different perspectives at once - a winter sports celebration in the middle of summer.’

Munich’s skills and experience in hosting major events continues to boost the bid as it prepares for a crucial month of presentations ahead of the IOC vote on July 6 in Durban, South Africa.  This week, ‘Stars, the Winter Games and You!’ marks the beginning of the final sprint for Munich's bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018. Germany’s message could not be clearer: ‘Yes, we want it!’

Background
Munich, in collaboration with Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Berchtesgadener Land, is applying to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The application will be put together and managed by Bewerbungsgesellschaft München 2018 GmbH, with Katarina Witt as Chair, Bernhard Schwank as CEO and Jürgen Bühl as Managing Director. Shareholders in the application organisation are the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) with 51 per cent, the City of Munich (30 per cent), the Free State of Bavaria (nine per cent), the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (eight per cent) and the district of Berchtesgadener Land (two per cent). The bid is being supported by national sponsors Adidas, Allianz, the BMW Group, BayWa, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Post, Flughafen München GmbH, Lotto Bayern, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, METRO GROUP, and the Sparkasse Finance Group, along with national suppliers ARGE (Albert Speer & Partner and PROPROJEKT), Deloitte, Getty Images, GfK Verein, Hubert Burda Media, IMMO 2018, Messe München GmbH, Norton Rose LLP, Munich Olympic Park, pilot sport and Stadtwerke München GmbH. More information about the concept, the progress of the application and many other aspects can be found at http://www.muenchen2018.org/en.

Bewerbungsgesellschaft München 2018 GmbH
Munich 2018 Bid Committee
Olympiapark München
Spiridon-Louis-Ring 21
80809 München

Responsible for contents:
Bernhard Schwank and Jürgen Bühl

Press Contact:
Simone Seefried
Agnes-Pockels-Bogen 1
80992 München
Telephone: +49 89 540428-317
Mobile: +49 176 840 532 26
E-Mail: presse@muenchen2018.org

Online Press Area:
http://www.muenchen2018.org/en/press

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Keywords · Munich 2018 · IOC · Thomas Bach · Katarina Witt · Bernhard Schwank · Allianz SE

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Name: Simone Seefried
Organization: Munich 2018 Bid Committee
Email:
Phone: 4989540428317
URL: http://www.muenchen2018.org

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