Cows and sheep: Olympics to have an English meadow

[June 12, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- The 2012 London Olympics will open in an English meadow, complete with cows and sheep, a cricket match -- and that typical English summer music motif, a mosh pit.

Danny Boyle, artistic director of the games' opening ceremony, on Tuesday unveiled a model of the set, which will transform the Olympic Stadium -- now located in gritty urban eastern London -- into a rural idyll.

It includes grass, livestock and a hill modeled on Glastonbury Tor in southwest England. Spectators will fill a mosh pit, evoking the raucous Glastonbury music festival.

There are even real clouds that Boyle says can produce real rain -- in case the British weather fails to comply.

Boyle, the filmmaker behind "Trainspotting" and the Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire," said the set evoked the "green and pleasant land" of William Blake's poem "Jerusalem," an emblem of Englishness. He said the opening ceremony was a "reflection of part of our heritage," but would also depict Britain's present and look to the future.

Some 10,000 volunteers have begun rehearsing for the ceremony, which also will involve 10,000 athletes and 60,000 spectators inside the stadium.

Boyle said he hopes to keep many details of the event secret, although Paul McCartney has revealed he will be the closing act.

The London games run from July 27 to Aug. 12.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.