Festival to celebrate one year to go until Rio 2016

A 100m sprint to define the fastest para-athlete in the world, a football five-a-side match between long-time rivals Brazil and Argentina and a sitting volleyball match between Brazil and the USA — these are just some of the highlights of a festival taking place 6-7 September in Rio to mark one year to go until the Paralympic Games.

The activities, which also include a wheelchair basketball game, are scheduled at the Parque dos Patins (a park alongside Lagoa) and will be free of charge. Monday, a national holiday in Brazil, (7 September) will also see Rio 2016 tickets go on sale.

The festivities start at 11 am (BRT) on Sunday, with the qualifying race to decide which para-athletes will go through to the 100m sprint finals on Monday. That is when the fastest male and female para-athletes in the world, across all classifications, will be crowned.

Physically integrated dance kicks off the cultural line-up on Sunday, with choreography that gets dancers with and without a physical disability moving.

Workshops for children and outdoor cinema screenings will continue throughout the day, while DJ Joao Brasil – known locally as the “mash-up king” for his mix of hip-hop, funk and electronic rhythms – will be on the decks.

On Monday morning, the sport will start with a sitting volleyball game at 10 am between Brazil (runner-ups at last year’s World Championships) and the USA, followed by a reception for athletes who took part in the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games in August. The final 100m sprint will follow at 12:50 pm.

Then later, the two best football five-a-side teams– Brazil and Argentina – will play at 2 pm, followed by a wheelchair basketball match at 3 pm.

The cultural programme gets going again at 4 pm, with more workshops for children, outdoor film screenings and another chance to have a go at physically integrated dance. Local hip-hop-style dance-offs – batalha do passinho – and music from the Embaixadores da Alegria samba school will be the soundtrack to the afternoon, alongside DJ Joao Brasil back on the wheels of steel.

The event follows the success of the interactive sport festival that Rio 2016 staged in Flamengo Park last year that celebrated two years until the Games.