Cultural Olympiad events receive £16m lottery boost

The money will fund six of London 2012's major cultural projects, including an international Shakespeare festival, a UK-wide film project for young people, and a huge music festival in London just before the Games.

Chief executive of the Royal Opera House Tony Hall will chair a new Cultural Olympiad Board to ensure the programme moves forward.  

The Cultural Olympiad was launched last year with a weekend of events taking place across the country.
 
"The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to stimulate the extraordinarily fertile creativity there is in London and throughout the UK," said London Mayor Boris Johnson.

"This funding is a tremendous boost for the Cultural Olympiad, which will be an exciting shop window for our creative talent and the cultural sector as a whole."

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