With final preparations and rehearsals for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony nearly over, the organisers have promised that tonight’s celebrations will "capture the heart, soul, and true grit of the people of Glasgow".
More than one billion people around the globe are expected to tune in to watch a live broadcast from the ceremony today (23 July) which kicks off at 9pm BST.
David Zolkwer, Glasgow 2014’s head of ceremonies and artistic director, said the event will celebrate the "real and extraordinary" people of Scotland and Glasgow.
"It will feel like it is made in Glasgow," Zolkwer said. "It will be distinctive, irreverent, funny, principled, sincere, personal and direct.
"We are going to host a party that welcomes the people of the Commonwealth into our home. Guests will arrive and gather, stories will be shared, everyone joins in and no one wants to leave - a typical Glasgow party."
The ceremony will take place at the historic Celtic Park football ground, which has been transformed into a large, interactive, open-air stage.
Europe's largest LED screen (100m long, 11 meters high and weighing 38 tonnes) has been installed to create a ‘window to the world’ for Glasgow and Scotland to connect with locations across the city, Scotland and the Commonwealth. The opening and closing ceremonies of Glasgow 2014 are being created and produced on behalf of Glasgow 2014 by Jack Morton Worldwide, who also created the ceremonies for Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 and Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.
The ceremony follows the arrival of thousands of athletes and officials to the Athletes’ Village adjacent to Celtic Park.
About 4,500 athletes from 71 nations will take part in the 20th edition of the Games, which run until 3 August.
Background to Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games• The first Games were held in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada, where 400 athletes from 11 countries took part in 59 events across six sports.
• Scotland is staging the Commonwealth Games for a third time, after Edinburgh played host in 1970 and 1986.
• Glasgow 2014 will be held at 13 individual venues, located across three compact site clusters in Glasgow. Events will also take place in Carnoustie (shooting) and Edinburgh (aquatics).
• The Glasgow 2014 "My Games" app provides visitors and spectators with a host of information for exploring the city, venues and all the sporting action while the Glasgow 2014 Results App keeps fans up to date with all the results and medal tables across the 17 sports. Both are available for iOS and Android.
