An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.''Streetwise Meeting and Event Planning''
Grand Openings: Chapter 8. Adams Media. pp. 89–103. Opening ceremonies at significant events such as the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

, and the

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

might involve thousands of participants and be watched worldwide. Such tournaments often also include a closing ceremony at the end of the event.

Ribbon cutting

A ribbon cutting is a ceremonial event to mark the opening of a new business or a newly renovated business location. It typically involves cutting a ribbon with giant

scissors Scissors are hand-operated shearing tools. A pair of scissors consists of a pair of blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting var ...

, speeches and presentations by local officials and business owners, and tours of the new facilities. Members of the local community often attend the event, the local chapter of the chamber of commerce, the media, and other guests. It is seen as a celebration of the business and the community it serves. The ritual originated in the ancient ceremony to open the Cloth Fair at Bartholomew the Great,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Since 1133, the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

would open the fair each year by ceremonially cutting a piece of cloth.

Soft launch or opening

In the case of physical establishments, its grand opening might be preceded by a "soft opening" or "

soft launch A soft launch, also known as a soft opening, is a preview release of a product or service to a limited audience prior to the general public. Soft-launching a product is sometimes used to gather data or customer feedback, prior to making it wi ...

" in which the establishment begins to operate with little promotion to allow testing of operations, procedures, and facilities.

References

External links

Planning Your Ribbon Cutting or Groundbreaking Ceremony
Ceremonies Opening ceremonies Ribbon symbolism Rituals attending construction {{culture-stub

Ribbon cutting

Soft launch or opening

See also

References

External links