Commonwealth Games opening ceremony rehearsals

Twenty-two students will be performing alongside CSBS teacher Amanda and 2000 performers from across the UK in the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games 2014...

The ceremony is being held in Glasgow's Celtic Park which has been transformed for the event and will have an audience of around 40,000. It will also be broadcast live on the BBC and YouTube with an estimated audience of over 1 billion across the globe. The content of the ceremony is being kept under wraps and we are all sworn to secrecy... So tune in on Wednesday 23 July to see us with the amazing range of acts and entertainment from both famous celebrities and the community cast.

Auditions and rehearsals

The group were invited to audition at the beginning of March and were amazed and delighted to learn at the end of May that we had been successful. Only 2000 performers were chosen from the 6000 applicants. The rehearsals have been intensive and long including very early starts, catching trains at 7am, and some very late nights returing home after midnight. With nearly 50 hours of rehearsals including camera and tech rehearsals and 2 dress rehearsals, the whole cast is feeling very confident about our performance on Wednesday 23 July and can't wait to finally reveal what we have been doing over the past month!

Due to the security and secrecy surrounding the ceremony, we were unable to take photos or video during the rehearsals, but have a gallery of photos from our trips and adventures around Glasgow to share on our CSBS Facebook page and a gallery of our move to Celtic Park for the final rehearsals and performance.

Many thanks to Alba Facilities Services for a generous donation toward our coach travel for the actual ceremony, the chaperones for their help and support, and to the parents of the students who have also had to be up very early and out very late for lifts and have paid a small fortune in train fares! 

Good luck for Wednesday everyone!