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1,000-day countdown to 2018 PyeongChang Olympics

May 11, 2015

Participants release balloons to celebrate a countdown to the start of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Han Jong-chan)

SEOUL, May 11 (Yonhap) — Special festivities over the coming weekend will celebrate the 1,000-day countdown to the 2018 Winter Olympics in the eastern South Korean town of PyeongChang.

The organizing committee for the Olympics announced Monday that celebrations will take place Saturday in PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangwon Province, and other neighboring venue towns, and also in the nation’s capital. South Korea has never before hosted a Winter Olympics.

The organizers will put on the “Happy PyeongChang, Promise for 1,000 Days” event at Olympic Park in Seoul starting at 3 p.m.

Saturday. Among some 4,000 participants will be honorary ambassadors for PyeongChang, including former Olympic figure skating champ Kim Yu-na, Olympic speed skater Lee Kyou-hyuk and renowned ballerina Kang Sue-jin.

Cho Yang-ho, president of the organizing committee, will be joined by representatives from PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, and other figures from the sports industry. The countdown event will also take place Sunday with the taping of a special television program, winter sports-related exhibitions and lucky draws. Olympic sponsors will set up promotional booths as part of the celebration.

Gangwon Province will organize special performances Saturday in Chuncheon, the provincial capital, under the theme of “Dream of Gangwon Province, Future with Happiness.”

PyeongChang, the host city, will stage an event featuring 1,000 pigeons, which the organizers said will be a symbol wishing for the success of the Olympics. There will be fireworks and choir performances in Gangneung, which will host ice events.