Lighting Ceremony

Unlike the Olympic Flame, the Paralympic Flame has no ancestral home, so the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Torch Relay will include the local First Nations communities of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg to light the Paralympic Flame on their territory in a Lighting Ceremony in Ottawa on March 3, 2010.

During the Lighting Ceremony, elders from the two First Nations will create and light the Paralympic Flame. The flame will then be brought to Parliament Hill for an event from 10:00 am to 11:00 am. Dignitaries and guests will attend the ceremony, which will also feature entertainment. A total of 16 torchbearers, including 13 selected ambassadors from each Canadian province and territory, will run the first legs of the 2010 Paralympic Torch Relay.

The flame will be extinguished at the conclusion of the relay. During the 10-day relay, local First Nations will create a new Paralympic Flame for each celebration community. Ashes from the 10 community Paralympic Torch Relay fires will form the foundation for the final fire to be lit by a Musqueam First Nation fire keeper. The final Paralympic Flame will be lit from this fire and will be used to light the Paralympic Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games at BC Place.

Read about the first 16 torchbearers who will carry the Paralympic Flame in Ottawa.