Performers from the Isle of Wight will be performing at the Olympic Park on the final day of the Paralympics.
A GROUP of disabled carnival performers from the Isle of Wight are set to take part in the entertainment on the final day of the Paralympic Games on Sunday — at London’s Olympic Park.
The New Carnival Company’s 'Blue Touch Paper’ project will be sending a 75-strong troupe of both deaf and disabled people to take part in a carnival presentation dubbed 'Sarava St George’ which is styled on a traditional Rio-style samba performance.
Fifty of the performers will be from the Isle of Wight with a further 25 from a samba band called the Boom Tribe from Horsham, West Sussex. Most of the performers will be deaf or disabled, while others will be their carers.
The show will depict the famous story of St George and the Dragon. St George is also the patron saint of samba.
The company is the only Isle of Wight-based arts organisation to appear at the park on the final day. They will be performing outside the Olympic Stadium, in the Olympic Park, before the official closing ceremony itself takes place in the evening.
Chris Slann, executive director of the New Carnival Company, based in Sandown, said: "Sarava St George is particularly pertinent as the Paralympic Games are formally handed over to Rio on Sunday as part of the closing ceremony.
"The New Carnival Company will build on this Rio connection and continue to work with a sister carnival and disability project in Brazil called Embaixadores d’ Algeria over the next four years."
Reporter: davidn@iwcpmail.co.uk