THE PARK THAT NEVER SLEEPS… BICENTENNIAL PARK
Volvo Ocean Race: Downtown Miami Race Village
The Downtown Miami Village is a large scale production and 14-day event taking place in Bicentennial Park. Spanning over 27 acres overlooking the bay in Downtown Miami, the village will provide tourists and the local South Florida community a place to “Sea and be Seen” with an international and interactive race village that will showcase cultural arts, music entertainment, food, and more. Over 150,000 attendees are expected from May 6-20, 2012, as Miami is the only North American stopover of this global “Super Bowl” of sailing. With a rich history of sailing in the South Florida community and home to the U.S. Sailing Center, the Volvo Ocean Race committee was confident that the City of Miami would be the ideal North American stopover.
The Downtown Miami Village will consist of sailing and extreme water sports activities, educational programs for children of all ages, interactive pavilions like Volvo Ocean Race’s ‘Life At The Extreme’ exhibition, which includes rides and entertainment that lets fans experience first-hand this ‘Everest of Sailing’. Top attractions include The Dome, a 3D Cinema, The Ride, a state-of-the-art simulator that gives the feeling of being onboard a Volvo Open 70 yacht at speed in extreme conditions while being bombarded by strong winds and spray; The Grinding Challenge, where you can pit your strength against your friends on the pedestal grinders which the crews use onboard Volvo Open 70s; and Air Balls, which gives kids the chance to ‘run’ on water. In addition, the festival will feature wake boarding, water sports exhibitions, community cardboard canoe race, a classic steamboat race, Optimist Class Nationals, food, drinks, a Gala and more.
The six competing boats will be docked at the Volvo Ocean Race Downtown Miami Festival for the public to get a closer look. This is the most competitive fleet ever to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race and the 2011-12 edition will be the world’s toughest and longest ocean race. Amongst the 11 crew members on board each of the six Volvo Open 70s are the world’s best sailors including Olympic gold medallists, world champions and America’s Cup winners.
