The opening ceremony for the 2018 Commonwealth Games took place on the evening of Wednesday 4 April in the Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast. As mandated by the Commonwealth Games Charter, the proceedings of the ceremony combined the formal opening of the sporting event (including hoisting of the flags, parade of the athletes and welcome speeches) with an artistic performance to showcase the host nation's culture. The 2018 Games were formally opened by Charles, Prince of Wales. Jack Morton Worldwide was given the contract to produce the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The theme of the opening ceremony was Hello Earth and directed by David Zolkwer.
The ceremony began at 20:00 AEST and lasted almost three hours. It was watched by an estimated worldwide television of 1.5 billion. The principal sections of the artistic display represented Australia's Indigenous culture, Gold Coast's Surfers Paradise, wildlife and theme parks. A medley of Australian classics were played live by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Youth Orchestra and Gold Coast Youth Orchestra during the parade of nations. Popular Australian recording artists such as Christine Anu, Delta Goodrem, Katie Noonan and Ricki-Lee Coulter performed at the ceremony. The opening ceremony was seen as a tremendous success and worldwide praised.
Preparations Three Australian companies: Specktak International, World Events, Dae Global and one American company Jack Morton Worldwide (JMW) submitted bids to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) to produce the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. On 27 December 2015, the GOLDOC announced they chose Jack Morton Worldwide to produce the ceremonies of the games. This sparked a controversy as the head of all the three Australian Companies Ric Birch, head of Spectak, David Atkins, head of Dae Global and Julie Brooks, head of World Events questioned to GOLDOC that why an American company (JMW) was chosen for the production of ceremonies which was going to happen in Australia. Ric Birch, who co-ordinated the ceremonies of the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, called for a review of the decision to overlook three Australian companies to present the ceremonies at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. GOLDOC's head of communications Marcus Taylor said that JMW is an international company which have been working in Australia since 1983 and have a range of experiences in producing the ceremonies of events as they have previously done for 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
On 22 November 2017, the GOLDOC revealed some of the key artistic personnel working on the ceremonies of the games. The creative team for the opening and closing ceremonies consisted of a roster of renowned individuals. Leading the ceremonies team as Artistic Director and Project Director was David Zolkwer, Head of Jack Morton Worldwide Public Events. David previously led the teams for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Australian singer Katie Noonan, winner of five ARIA music awards and former lead singer of Brisbane based band George, was given the role of the Music Director of the ceremonies. Katie said "I'm a fiercely proud Queensland musician; I think we make some of the best music in the world and indeed some of the best art in the world. There's some truly world class dance and music being made here, so it's a good time to focus on our (cultural) identity and realise that we're really good at what we do." She served as the artistic director of the Queensland Music Festival from 2015 to 2019.https://www.artshub.com.au/news/features/queensland-music-festival-expanding-recommiting-to-regional-engagement-2693333/#:~:text=2024%20is%20the%20Queensland%20Music,and%20a%20new%20programming%20model.
Nathan M. Wright served as the Head of Choreography and Staging Director for the opening ceremony. Nathan is a highly respected choreographer and performer who has worked on large-scale events extensively, including choreography for the opening and closing ceremonies of both the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London and the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The role of Executive Producer for the ceremonies was given to Merryn Hughes. Merryn has also served as the Executive Producer for the ceremonies of the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea and the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Dignitaries in attendance
Proceedings
Countdown The opening ceremony started with a countdown from 65000 years quickly to 10–1 seconds. When the countdown is finished, a very large firework exploded in the middle of the ground of the Carrara Stadium.
Hello Earth Australian Actor Jack Thompson spoke about the history of Earth along with holding an illuminated globe.
When he finished his narration, he then placed the globe in the ground which was covered with beach sand. The image of earth was projected on the ground showcasing the movement of winds, oceans, wind currents and large mass of land. A group of girls stood at the image projection of land and raised their right hands. The large mass of land immediately separated into seven continents. After the separation of land masses, a white humpback whale "Migaloo" was shown swimming across the oceans and diving into the land of Australia.
Four Winds World-renowned didgeridoo player William Barton played his instrument at the top of the Q1 tower. Hip-hop artist Mau Power from Thursday Island in the Torres Strait and Australian singer Christine Anu sang the song "My Island Home" along with Four Winds Didgeridoo Orchestra. A group of dancers holding small glowing spheres danced along with the song. When the song finished, the dancers immediately stood adjacent to each other forming the shape of Australian land boundary. Christine Anu sang the same song at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics and in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney.
Welcome of dignitaries Charles, Prince of Wales, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation Louise Martin, Chairman of GOLDOC Peter Beattie and President of Commonwealth Games Australia Sam Coffa entered the stadium and welcomed with a huge applause by the audience. Afterwards, the Australian anthem was performed in a completely unusual way. The first part of the anthem was sung through an edited video in which ordinary people were in their homes or anywhere else in the country. The second part was sung with a live vision of the Carrara Stadium with the public singing. Along the Australian flag, the Australian Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag were hoisted in the stadium.
When the stadia were broadcast live, the Australian coat of arms was projected on the sand stadium's ground.
Totem ceremony After the history of Earth segment, the traditional totem ceremony was showcased. This part of the ceremony represented the moment of reconnecting and regeneration. It showcased a ritual in which the ceremonial knowledge of the totemic system was passed down from past ancestors and elders, through present elders, to the future elders. Performers from the Bangarra Dance Theatre and performers from the Bangarra's "Rekindling" programme performed a dance with shields. Rekindling is an intensive dance-based education program for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander secondary students. After the dance performance, a large firework exploded in the middle of the stadium's ground.
Surfer’s Paradise After the Totem ceremony segment, the Surfers Paradise scene was shown. A group of people wearing swimsuits gathered into the stadium along with props such as umbrellas, deck chairs, and beach towels. The image of the scenery of beach was projected onto the stadium's ground. Australian singer Ricki-Lee Coulter performed the song "Technicolor Love" and the people wearing swimsuits danced on the song.
Parade of Nations
Following tradition, the host of the previous games, Scotland entered first, followed by the rest of the European countries competing. Following this, all countries paraded in alphabetical order from their respective regions. After the European countries entered, countries from Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Caribbean, and lastly Oceania marched in. The host nation of Australia entered last. The Parade of Nations track, designed by Cairns based Torres Strait Islander visual artist Brian Robinson, was a specially commissioned artwork drawing on indigenous and local culture and mythology, featuring stars, surfboards, sea animals and shells. The young Surf Lifesavers of Australia, popularly called as the "Nippers", escorted the athletes carrying a surfboard bearing the country name.
After the parade of Commonwealth Nations, Australian singer Katie Noonan sang "You’re Welcome Here" with playing a piano backed by the Gold Coast Choir. She was also the musical director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the games.
Smoking ceremony Contemporary aboriginal artist Luther Cora performed a traditional smoking ceremony with his family. The smoking ceremony is an ancient and enduring custom still practiced widely among many Indigenous Australians. It involved burning various native plants to produce smoke. It was mentioned in The Guardian that the meaning of the ceremony was to cleanse oneself by bathing in the smoke and connect with each other and with the land. It was also about connecting with good spirits.
Hoisting of the CGF flag The Commonwealth Games flag was brought into the stadium by six athletes namely Dominican high jumper Brendan Williams, South African para swimmer Natalie Du Toit (para-sport representative), New Zealand professional racing cyclist Alison Shanks, Canadian high jumper Nicole Forrester, retired Scottish rugby union player Colin Gregor and Scottish women's hockey player Rhona Toft. The six athletes were also appointed to the CGF Athlete Advisory Commission on 3 April 2018. Australian singer John Farnham's song "You're the Voice" was played when the athletes entered into the stadium with the flag. John Farnham performed the same song at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Oath Australian lawn bowls athlete Karen Murphy took the athlete's oath, while Australian netball coach Lisa Alexander took the coaches oath and athletics official Desmond Johnston took the officials oath.
Speeches Chairman of GOLDOC The Hon. Peter Beattie AC gave a speech about the games and welcomed the athletes.
After him, President of the CGF Dame Louise Martin gave a speech about the games. She started her speech by telling about her own experiences when she was an athlete representing Scotland at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth. She also stated that the 2018 Commonwealth Games were the first International Multi Sport Event to have equal medal opportunities for both men and women and the first Games to include a Reconciliation Action Plan, respecting and recognising the first nation peoples of the entire Commonwealth. Further she added that the games were the largest fully inclusive para-sport medal events programme ever at a Commonwealth Games; the largest at any international sports event.
Queen's Baton and opening of the games