WHO:    Mayor Kitty Piercy and Eugene City Councilors

WHAT:   Opening of Eugene 08 Festival
            Drawing for eight pairs of Olympic Trials tickets

WHEN:  Friday, June 27, 11:00 a.m.
            Names must be entered by 11:45 and the drawing will begin at noon.

WHERE: Track Town Plaza Stage, 15th Ave, inside the Eugene 08 Festival. 

After two years of planning, incalculable hours of work by thousands of community members, and investments and preparations too numerous to list, at long last it is almost here: opening day of the 2008 US Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field and the Eugene 08 Festival. The Festival opens at 11:00 a.m. this Friday, June 27, and the competition begins at 1:00 p.m.

The Eugene City Council will help get things started by giving away eight pairs of tickets to the competition—one pair for each of the eight days of competition.  A drawing for the tickets will be held on the Track Town Plaza Stage on 15th Ave, inside the Festival, at noon on Friday.  The free ticket drawing is one of several ways the City has partnered with the Local Organizing Committee to ensure access to the event for all members of the community.

From the beginning, a primary goal of Eugene 08 organizers has been to involve the entire community in creating an exciting, enjoyable event for all—athletes, visitors and residents—and to provide opportunities for everyone in the community to participate. 

The City of Eugene has partnered with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) in several significant ways to help accomplish that goal.  The Eugene 08 Festival is free and open to all community members with live video of the competition on jumbo screens, free entertainment, and fun, interactive youth and family activities. The City also teamed up with the LOC, Nike and other partners to present a full range of youth and family programs that encourage participation and healthy, active lifestyles.

Because of the limited number of tickets available in Hayward Field, the high demand and the cost, the City partnered with the LOC to create a Ticket Scholarship Program that donated a total of 320 individual day tickets to four community agencies that serve low-income families and at-risk youth:  Head Start of Lane County, Catholic Charities of Lane County, Committed Partners for Youth, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. 

The City of Eugene also purchased an additional 160 individual day tickets and distributed them to low-income and underserved community members through the City’s Youth and Family Recreation programs, and the Human Rights program.

The City Council’s open public drawing for the eight pairs of tickets (or 16 individual day tickets) provides one more opportunity for some lucky community members to get seats in Hayward Field for the 2008 US Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field. 

The theme for opening day is 1980 Team Day, honoring the last Olympic Team to be selected at Hayward Field. Members of the 1980 team will be present on the Festival stage at 3:00 p.m. later that afternoon to greet fans and members of the public.

Logistics for entering the drawing:

 To enter the drawing for the tickets, people should plan to arrive by or before 11:00 a.m. to get through security checks at the entrances, and proceed to the Track Town Plaza to enter their name for the drawing.  People must be present to enter the drawing and to win.

Those wanting to enter the drawing should plan plenty of time to travel via LTD bus, shuttle or bike as there will be no public parking available near Hayward Field.  Although the Festival is open to the public, everyone entering the Festival will go through a security check at the public entrances.

Information on shuttles and other transportation alternatives is on the Eugene 08 website at www.eugene08.com  - click on the Spectators tab.  The website also includes information on the size of bags allowed into the Festival and other allowed and prohibited items, maps showing entrance locations, and comprehensive information on events and activities.