The 2018 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony will be held at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The Opening Ceremony to the 2018 Winter Olympics will take place at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium on February 9, 2018 at 8 p.m. KST / 6 a.m. ET.
Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium is newly built and seats 35,000 people with seven floors above ground and one level underground. It’ll be used a total of four times, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2018 Paralympic Games. The stadium has a pentagonal shape that can be seen from an aerial view.
According to Associated Press reporter King Tong-hyung, the structure will be torn down following ceremonies to both games. It’s estimated the stadium cost $107 million dollars. The construction cost for the stadium was initially estimated to be $78 million.
Accuweather’s Kevin Byrne reports absolutely frigid, ice-cold temperatures for spectators in the arena. The open-air stadium’s temperature was measured on Dec. 12, 2017 and recorded at 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit / 7 degrees Celsius. Weather.com interviewed a local, Nam Sun-woo, about the weather in Pyeongchang who advised:
"The only thing foreigners can do is the same thing locals do, bundle up. Not many outsiders understand how cold it gets here. It’s not like where they’re from. This kind of cold is completely different."
PyeongChang2018.com, the official website for the 2018 Winter Olympics, reports spectators will be given six items to protect against the anticipated harsh cold. Those six items include: “a raincoat, lap blanket, knit caps, a warm seat cushion and multiple hand and feet warmers.” Wind shields and wind fences have also been installed on the second story of the Olympic Stadium.
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Originally, the Opening and Closing ceremonies were to take place at Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium. Around 2012, the decision was made to open a temporary stadium in Hoenggye. Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium was built on an 860,000 square feet / 80,000 square meter site with an approximate elevation above sea level of 2,430 feet / 740 meters. NBC will air the Opening Ceremony on primetime television and by live stream for American viewers at 8:00 p.m. ET.