Cultural Program Will Reach All Regions of Rio de Janerio

(ATR) Over 1,200 projects will be funded in the the Rio 2016 Olympic cultural program to promote and connect Carioca culture across the whole city.

On Aug. 3 at Rio de Janeiro city hall, Mayor Eduardo Paes along with the Municipal Secretary of Culture, Marcelo Calero, introduced the five components of the program to the public and media.

"Rio´s Culture will be celebrated and lived by the whole city - in the theaters, museums, cultural centers, arenas, libraries and also in the public open spaces such as streets and squares of all of Rio´s regions," Eduardo Paes, said about the program.

As part of the program, a total $5.1 million will be used to fund local cultural producers, as well as 10 neighborhoods to be adorned with Olympic themes for the Games.

The cultural program contains five sections the funding program, the city festival, the cultural circuit, the culture marathon, and the cultural passport.

The funding program will see just over $5 million allocated to over 1,200 projects from local artists, musicians, private, and public art institutions. Included in the funding will be projects that help build more access to citizens to pursue the arts across the whole of Rio de Janeiro.

Ten neighborhoods will be chosen and funded to adorn Olympic themes during the Games as part of the Olympic city festival from May through September.

In addition to the money spent on the program, both domestic and foreign residents of Rio are eligible to receive an Olympic cultural passport, which will list cultural programs going on in the city, and provide discounts for participating museums. These participating events will outline the cultural circuit, which will reach all five regions of the city - north, south, west, center and Barra e Jacarepagua.

The first part of the program is the Olympic culture marathon, which will take place on Aug. 8-9 to end the one year to go ceremonies for Rio 2016. The marathon will resume during the Games on the first week of August for the Olympics and the first week of September for the Paralympics.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.