2018 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Paralympics took place at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea on March 9, 2018. at 20:00 KST^[1][2][3]

2018 Winter Paralympics
opening ceremony

Part of 2018 Winter Paralympics
Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium
Date	9 March 2018 (2018-03-09)
Time	20:00-22:10 KST (UTC+9)
Venue	Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium
Location	Pyeongchang, South Korea
Coordinates	37°40′03″N 128°42′20″E
Filmed by	Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS)
Footage	The ceremony on the IPC YouTube channel on YouTube

Preparations

The site of the opening ceremony, Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, was built specifically for the games. It seated 35,000. No Olympic or Paralympic events were held there. It was only used for the opening and closing ceremonies.^[1][2]

Proceedings

Parade of Nations

Main article: 2018 Winter Paralympics Parade of Nations

Competing countries entered the stadium in alphabetical order based on their names in the Korean language, with the host country, South Korea, concluding the march. Coincidentally similar to the Olympics, Greece enters at the start of the parade.

Dignitaries in attendance

•  South Korea President of Korea Moon Jae-in and First Lady Kim Jung-Sook
•  USA United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen^[4]

Anthems

• Korean Wheelchair Choir – South Korean National Anthem
• Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra – Paralympic Hymn

See also

• 2018 Winter Paralympics closing ceremony
• 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
• 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony
• 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
• 1988 Summer Olympics closing ceremony