World Scout Jamboree 2007

Saturday 28th July 2007

Today saw the opening ceremony of the World Scout Jamboree, and the growing excitement was palpable even as the different countries’ contingents were assembling in their uniforms ahead of the walk across site to the main arena.

Mexico

Each of the countries had their own distinctive identities and were celebrating some of their national culture in front of the their fellow travellers. From Italians singing and clapping, Nigerians dancing and Brazilians drumming, everyone was proud to have been chosen to represent their country at such a memorable event.

Italy

Ireland

Once arrived, the ceremony was kicked off by a sequence of dances symbolising the way the different countries, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales come together under the banner of the United Kingdom, represented by the Union Flag (or Union Jack as it’s often called).

UK

His Royal Highness Prince William and the Duke of Kent arrived by helicopter onto the lawn in front of Hylands House and walked through the crowd to a chorus of cheers before taking their places in the Royal Box, in view of both the stage and the crowd.

UK

Colombia

I was lucky to be among the 42 UK Contingent adult Scouts who then stood on the massive stage and sang the UK National Anthem “God Save The Queen” before the Duke of Kent (himself President of the UK Scout Association) opened the ceremony and then read to the crowd a message from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, who has been Patron of the Scout Association since 1952.

Hong Kong

UK Chief Scout Peter Duncan arrived on stage in a battered London Taxi which had travelled all the way from the previous World Scout Jamboree in Thailand, bringing the official World Organisation of Scout Movements’ purple flag, although the last part of the journey was by plane, and a team of parachutists dropped in from overhead to deliver the flag to the stage.

UK

Sri Lanka

The flags of each of the participating countries were then announced and brought onto stage, to an eruption of cheers from each contingent as their name was called out, before Jamboree Director Bill Cockcroft, and Herman Hui, Chairman of the World Scout Committee, greeted the participants with a series of messages emphasising the unity of those in Scouting, and the important work that Scouts can do in making a better world.

Egypt

Two Jamboree participants, Dan from UK & Hannah from Morocco, then read out the Scout Law & Promise to a hushed crowd, before Peter Duncan then led a noisy countdown to a series of fireworks that marked the Jamboree officially open.

Netherlands

Later in the day, the participants met back in the main arena for a concert party that went into the evening, featuring acts from all over the UK, many of them Scouts and Guides themselves. The atmosphere was amazing, and even the rain that started didn’t manage to dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm.

Guatemala

Sunday sees the start of the full programme, so check back for more news and photos.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 10:18 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.