coventry won the honour back in 2017, way back before covid 19 forced their artistic director to change all of her plans. you see the track, it is down here. we cannot be bringing audiences together in large numbers or even participants, and we have had to think very differently. for a start, what is about to take place on the streets has had to be kept a complete secret. one of you is not. to avoid large crowds gathering to watch, surprise events cropping up in neighbourhoods across the whole city. we thought if people cannot come in to us, we will go out to them. it may be that they have popped out for a bit of shopping and they encounter something running past them through the city centre. it may be something turns up on their street. this cultural cocktail also streaming online
yeah, yeah! seeing their banner up for the first time, a magic moment. l i feel proud because i ve actually. worked on something that s actually going to be put up and so loads of people can see it. i feel fantastic, brilliant. all my hard work and time have went into that. i just want them to be seen as these amazing young people that they are. i m really happy the banner is up there because whenever- i will take my friends outside | in the park, i will show them, look what i did, - are you proud of me? it s the best. high five! 12 hours after it began, and this day of cultural celebration is reaching its climax, a musical moment designed to unite everyone across the city.
of resilience linked to the blitz, so it s a great way to celebrate that and embody that. carrie and her fellow energies offer poetic pearls of wisdom. when you feel like stopping, know that your city persisted. when you feel alone, know that those who have come before you are cheering you on. they walked so you can run and you will run so that those after you will be able to fly. another of the energies is the artist and model daniel lismore, embodying the spirit of innovation. i grew up in a small villagejust on the border of coventry and all of my family are in coventry and i went to school in coventry as well and this is kind of where i grew up. it s been amazing actually. my life is so crazy and i ve been travelling the world constantly and all of a sudden i m back with my mum. close your eyes for a moment and imagine a place where creation is constant, where there is courage and space to transcend and protest.
now on bbc news, curtain up on coventry. this summer, coventry s streets were transformed into a giant stage as it finally got to celebrate the start of a covid delayed year as uk city of culture 2021. good morning, happy saturday, this is rachel and i hope you have had some caffeine in you already because today is going to be a very big day. the start of a summer weekend in coventry. but this is no ordinary saturday. today, the whole city will become a giant stage to mark the start of a big year as the uk city of culture. stay with us all day because we re going to make sure that you not miss a moment of this. cove ntry. it s been a long time coming.
rooted # and spread the whole town, the roots of the tree.# pauline black s day comes to an end in broadgate, underneath the river and canopy of coffa s tree. # shelter from the storm, shade from the sun. words of hope written on the ribbons by the people of coventry. their aspirations for the future of the city. # city of mine, my flows below. legend has it that coffa s tree was a tree planted by a man named coffa, by the settlement when it was first built up by the river, so people all around could see where the settlement was and come to it with ease, and coffa s tree over the years apparently became coventry. the banners on the approaches are designed by local schoolchildren, reflecting the themes of today s event. three of them, daniel, frankie and christian, along with teacher nina, are from the coventry extended learning centre, a pupil referral