Masterminded by British director Danny Boyle, who is famous for films such as Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later, the Olympic Opening Ceremony looks set to be a colourful celebration of English life.

Entitled Isles of Wonder after a line from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the ceremony will see the stadium transformed into a rural idyll that features grass, giant maypoles and flowers that represent each British nation. There will even be clouds that will produce rain if the English weather is not obliging!

The striking vista will be populated by morris dancers, families having picnics, villagers playing cricket and a menagerie of farm animals that includes 12 horses and 70 sheep. Music will be integral to the ceremony and there will be a pre-recorded score from Underworld as well as live music from famous faces.

Two mosh pits will also be created at either end of the arena, one themed around the Last Night of the Proms and one around Glastonbury Festival. These will be filled with ticket holders, although details of how to obtain tickets have not yet been announced.

A 23-tonne bell, which is the largest harmonically-tuned bell in the world and was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, will be rung to open the ceremony.

It has been reported that the show will evolve to display more of Britain’s urban scenery but in any case, with a cast of 10,000 that has already done 157 rehearsals, it should be nothing short of spectacular.

What do you think of the plans so far?