Tickets for the Olmpic entertainment event on 19th June are going well. They are available now from the Acomb Explore Library.

Meanwhile the Council has announced that it will be giving the Olympic Torch a ringing welcome to York with almost a dozen welcoming bands, choirs, peals of bells – church and bicycle – and even a few Vikings, before the Scots Guards’ band of pipes and drums see it off to Thirsk aboard the Scots Guardsman locomotive.

To entertain the waiting crowds and help build the atmosphere, the entertainment will start outside York College where the first Torchbearer will begin the York relay at 5.23pm on 19 June. Along its route, the Torch will be serenaded by choirs including the York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir, and a special performance by visiting choral groups from Australia and the USA.

The council’s York Arts Academy Band, local scout bands and a number of Shepherds’ Brass Bands will play, as will the Railway Institute’s Brass Band which has ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’ a favourite in its repertory. And greetings will be roared at the Flame from Clifford’s Tower by a group of Vikings.

Ringing a welcome through the city will be St Wilfrid’s peal from 4.45pm followed by York Minster’s carillon of 35 bells run after Evensong from 6pm on 19 June – listen out for the theme tune of ‘Chariots of Fire’ from Hugh Hudson’s 1981 film. Bicycle bells will be rung by some 100 young cyclists and parents on their specially-decorated bikes as the Torch passes Knavesmire Primary School on Campleshon Road.

Besides singer-songwriter Katy B and street dance duo Twist & Pulse welcoming the final Torchbearer to the main stage at York Racecourse at 6.50pm, two African drumming bands Umbu and Calabash will play and the University of York’s gospel choir Zamar will keep the beat going. Pick up your FREE tickets for the Racecourse show from:

• Visit York’s Visitor Information Centre on Museum Street
• York Explore Library Learning Centre at Library Square
• Acomb Explore on Front Street, Acomb
• or Tang Hall Library on Fifth Avenue, Tang Hall.

The next morning on 20 June at the National Railway Museum from 7.55am, the Torch will board the Scots Guardsman locomotive to the sound of the Catterick-based Scots Guards band of bagpipes and drums before steaming north to continue its journey in Thirsk.

Look out for traffic updates at #YorkTorch or avoid peak evening traffic and why not stay on after school or work on 19 June to light up your day with the Torch? Road users on the afternoon of 19 June and the morning of 20 June are advised to avoid the city centre and allow plenty of extra time for their journeys.