The Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games starts at 9pm London Time on 27th July 2012 (Friday). If you live in Beijing or Shanghai, the opening ceremony start time is 4am on 28th 2012 (Saturday). Check the start time for the other major cities in the world here.


The Olympic Opening Ceremony show, also called Isles of Wonder, is directed by Danny Boyle who is best known for his Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire. The ceremony show lasts about 3 hours and costs 27 million pounds. Starting with the sound of Europe's largest harmonically tuned bell, the Stadium will be transformed into the typical British countryside - ‘Green and Pleasant’ with real animals from British farms.