Information for researchers
The Games Xchange programme responsible  for this site has now ended. The site contains a huge amount of material, reports, studies, evaluations and images which you should find useful and interesting. Please check the Archives and Research section for further contact details relating to student enquiries or wider access to the city's Commonwealth Games records.
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Good luck to Melbourne 2006

Nearly four  years on Manchester hands the baton to Melbourne for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

The Creative Director of the Games Opening Ceremony, Andrew Walsh, has lifted the lid on some of what the public is to expect at Wednesday night's Opening Ceremony.

Taking a brief break from the preparations of what promises to be Melbourne's biggest night ever, Mr Walsh enthused that the Opening Ceremony will give the impression of Melbourne's creativity and vibrancy, in a creative and vibrant nation.

It will even redefine what an event ceremony has to offer.

"If (the ceremony) is not that, it will be an also-ran, and Melbourne is not that sort of place," he told the world's assembled media.

More than 6,000 people are involved in both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, with thousands of volunteers set to play a part on Australia's most famous playing field, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

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