The night’s celebrations started with a daring jump by snowboarder Johnny Lyall through a giant set of Olympic Rings as the live audience was engaged in the dramatic countdown to the start of the ceremony.
Surrounded by four welcome poles, one for each of the Four Host First Nations, more than 300 young First Nations, Inuit and Métis performers danced in an unprecedented gathering of Aboriginal youth from every region and language family within Canada, sharing their rich and diverse culture amongst themselves and with the world.
More than 2,600 athletes from 82 National Olympic Committees entered the stadium led by their country’s flagbearer. All teams were greeted warmly by the audience with a particularly enthusiastic welcome to the home team from Canada. Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado, the first of many headliners involved in the event, paid tribute to the athletes in the high-energy duet Bang the Drum.