The scene of the BOCOG press conference.[BOCOG]

The opening ceremony for the annual festival would be held at the Badaling section of the Great Wall, said Wang Ning, director of the Culture and Ceremonies Department with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).

"We hold the Olympic Cultural Festival before the 2-year countdown (to the opening of the Games on August 8, 2008) so the Chinese people will have a chance to share the atmosphere of the upcoming Olympic Games," Wang told the press conference.

On the evening of the opening day, Beijing TV Station, the local heavyweight broadcaster known as BTV, will show a large-scale quiz show live to spread the Olympic knowledge among the local audience.

With the theme of "Experience the Civilization & Enjoy the Olympic Games," the festival, the fourth of its kind in a row since 2003, will highlight 28 events, including Olympic cultural activities for mass participation, the Beijing International Sports Film Week and a series of "Olympic Beats" Open-air Concerts.

Topics such as the Olympic films, Olympics-related cultural creativity and Olympic music will be discussed at the 4th International Forum on Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as part of the festival. Over 30 sports-themed movies from the collection of the Olympic Television Archive Bureau and from around the world will constitute great delights to local movie fans.

Other events such as the "Olympic Beats" Open-air Concerts will be conducted at various locations around the city throughout the period from June 23 to July 15, when the festival ends.

The festival will climax on July 15, when a dozen songs selected from the third annual solicitation of Olympic songs will make their debut at the closing ceremony.