THE OPENING CEREMONY

     The Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in 1976 was held on Saturday, on the 17 th of July in 1976 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

     The ceremony marked the opening of the Games of the XXI Olympiad, the first Olympics ever held in Canada (the country would later host the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, in 1988, and the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, in 2010).

      There was an air show by the Royal Canadian Air Force's Snowbirds flying squad in th sunny skies above the satdium. The ceremony officially began at 3:00 pm with a trumpet fanfare and the arrival of Queen Elizabeth II (as head of state for Canada, she would open the Games). The Queen was accompanied by Michael Morris, Lord Killanin, President of the IOC (International Olympic Committee), and she was greeted to an orchestral rendition of "O Canada".

      The Queen also entered the Royal Box with her consort. She joined a number of Canadian and Olympic dignitaries (Jules Leger, Jean Drapeau, Marie-Claire, Sheila Dunlop, Pierre Trudeau...). 

      The parade of athletes began moments later with the arrival of the Greek team and concluded with the entrance of the Canadian team. All other teams entered the stadium according to French alphabetical order.

       Immediately following the parade, a troupe of women dancers  (there were 80 dancers in this troupe) dressed in white (representing the 80 th anniversary of the revival of the Olympic Games) performed a brief dance in the outline of the Olympic rings.

       Accompanied by the Olympic Hymn, the Olympic flag was carried into the stadium and hoisted at the west end of the stadium. The flag was carried by eight men and hoisted by four women, representing the ten provinces and two territories (at the time) of Canada.

       Once the flag was unfurled, a troupe of Bavarian dancers, representing Munich, host of the previous Summer Olympics, entered the stadium with the Antwerp Flag. Following a brief dance, that flag was then passed from the Mayor of Munich to the IOC President and then to the Mayor of Montreal. Next came a presentation of traditional Québécois folk dancers. The two troupes merged in dance together to the strains of “Vive le Compagnie” and exited the stadium with the Antwerp Flag, which would be displayed at Montreal City Hall until the opening of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

       Another trumpet fanfare announced the arrival of the Olympic Flame. The torch was carried by two teenagers (they were 15 year old), Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson, chosen as representatives of the unity within Canada’s linguistic heritage. The duo would make a lap of the stadium and then  they climbed a staircase on a special dais at the center of the stadium to set the Olympic flame alight in a temporary white aluminum cauldron. The flame was later transported to a more permanent cauldron just outside the running track to burn throughout the duration of the Games. A choir then performed the Olympic Cantata as onlookers admired the Olympic flame.

       Then, the ‘Youth of Canada’ took to the track to perform a colourful choreographed segment with flags, ribbons and a variety of rhythmic gymnast performers.

       The flag bearers of each team then circled around the speaker’s dais as Pierre Saint-Jean recited the Athletes’ Oath and Maurice Forger recited the Judges’ Oath, with right hand over the heart and the Canadian flag clutched in the left.

       Finally, a rousing choral performance of ‘O Canada’ in both French and English marked the close of the Opening Ceremony, as the announcers concluded with a declaration of ‘Vive les Jeux de Montreal! Long Live the Montreal Games’.