A three-week smorgasbord of cultural and sporting events is coming to Beijing on Sunday.

The fourth "Beijing 2008" Olympic Cultural Festival is aimed at helping urban and suburban communities "experience the civilization and enjoy the Olympic Games," as the event theme indicates.

The festival, which runs till July 15, includes 28 events ranging from public sports activities, exhibitions, international forums, cultural events to outdoor performances.

Highlights include the fourth International Forum on the Beijing Olympic Games which will contain discussions on the Olympic Games and film, Olympic-related cultural creativity and Olympic music. It will last from June 28 to July 14 at the Nirvana Resort.

The forum is expected to attract distinguished guests from all over the world. Among them are renowned directors, officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic music producers, who will share on opportunities in China's cultural industry brought about by the 2008 Games.

Meanwhile, the second annual Beijing International Sports Film Week will open at the China National Film Museum from June 26 to July 2. The opening ceremony is to be held at the China National Film Museum.

More than 30 movies from the Olympic Television Archive Bureau (OTAB) and other countries and regions will be shown at Beijing's cinemas, on CCTV's film channel and in local communities to entertain film fans.

Following its warmly welcomed debut during last year's Olympic Cultural Festival, the "Olympic Beats" open-air Concert will bring local residents free shows at the Millennium Monument from 8 to 9 pm every night between June 24 and July 14.

The cultural festival also contains youth programmes featuring an International Youth Wind Instrument Parade at the Wangfujing pedestrian street, which has teamed up about 1,500 young wind players from all over the world.

The festival will also host a concert called "Volunteers in Beijing" to award the winners of a concluded Olympic-themed domino contest. Twenty college teams from Beijing will participate in the contest.

A dozen of songs selected from 800 submitted tunes from the third annual solicitation for Olympic songs will debut at the closing gala scheduled at the Century Theatre at 8 pm, July 15.

(China Daily June 24, 2006)