ABSTRACT

By the time of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games it will be exactly a hundred years since the first official presentation of an Olympic cultural programme. London has placed a strong emphasis on its cultural and creative narrative since the bid stage, building on its reputa-tion as a ‘creative city’ (Landry, 2005) and a world leading centre for the cultural and creative industries. London has also been keen to claim that the Games will leave a long-lasting legacy, not only for the host city – and its East End in particular – but for the rest of the UK. The UK-wide dimensions of the legacy have often been articulated in cultural terms, with a focus on commitment to a national cultural programme as well as the expected national torch relay cel-ebration. Some of the central claims of London’s cultural programme – the Cultural Olympiad – are a promise to use culture and the arts to expand engagement from young people and help overcome barriers to participation for people with disability. Advancing the engagement of the youth and disabled people are two central commitments from the 2012 Games at large; by promising that the Cultural Olympiad will expand opportunities at a national level, London is positioning the programme as an essential Games component to fulfil its inclusion promises.