VANCOUVER, Nov. 5 /CNW/ - This Saturday, Olympic fans are encouraged to be among the first to purchase Vancouver Victory Ceremony tickets at www.vancouver2010.com and reserve their place in 2010 to witness Olympians from around the world have their Vancouver 2010 medals placed around their necks for the first time.

The tickets starting at $22 are available on a first-come, first-served basis to Canadian residents as part of the third - and final - major release of tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which starts at 10:00 am (Pacific Time). More than 100,000 high-demand Games tickets are available, including gold medal hockey, curling, and the Opening, Closing and Victory Ceremonies.

Along with paying tribute to the athletes, these nightly Victory Ceremonies at BC Place include a rocking hour of live music from some of the country's top musicians.

"The nightly Victory Ceremony tickets will be an inspirational and affordable chance to share in the celebration surrounding Canada's Games in 2010," said Caley Denton, vice president, ticketing and consumer marketing for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). "Along with watching history in the making at the medal ceremonies, these tickets also give spectators access to great entertainment."

The indoor ceremonies, which last just over two hours, will be held on 12 nights only in 2010 and will be sponsored each night by a province or territory on a specially constructed stage showcasing the dynamic green and blue palette of the Look of the Games. The lineup of bands and solo performers, as well as the schedule of provincial and territorial nights, will be released later this year by VANOC.

There will also be a live video feed of the medal presentations at Whistler Medals Plaza shown at BC Place and vice versa so audiences in both locations can celebrate these history making moments together at the same time.

Customers who act by November 20 will have the option to receive special souvenir versions of their Victory Ceremony tickets. The highly collectable, full-colour and oversize tickets prominently display a single Vancouver 2010 Olympic medal and its unique crop of a larger Aboriginal artwork of an orca whale. Each of the 615 Olympic medals awarded to the athletes will be a one-of-a-kind work of art and undulate rather than lay flat - both firsts in Games history.

2009 Ticket Account Survey

The Organizing Committee also released results today from its Vancouver 2010 Ticket Account Survey, conducted from August 31 to September 19, 2009 by Angus Reid Strategies. Among the survey's findings:

• The average ticket account holds approximately 10 tickets each - ticket accounts for customers in British Columbia who live outside of Metro Vancouver hold fewer (nine), while Canadian ticket accounts outside of the province hold more (14). The average American ticket account surveyed holds approximately 11 tickets.


• Virtually all of the tickets purchased will be used by the ticket account customers, their family and friends. Ninety-four per cent of the total Canadians surveyed, 93 per cent of Metro Vancouver respondents and 90 per cent of Americans said they will use all of their tickets.


• 61 per cent of Canadians surveyed indicated they are only visiting British Columbia because of the Olympic Winter Games, while 65 per cent for Americans surveyed said the same.


• Most ticket account customers travelling to the Games are not coming alone. The size of the travel party for out-of-town ticket accounts on average is approximately three people each for Canada and the United States, the survey suggests. The average Metro Vancouver ticket account is expecting approximately two visitors to attend events in the region or Whistler in 2010 with them.


• The profile of the travel party for Canadian ticket accounts from outside BC is younger (18 to 34 age group), while the rest of BC and the United States skews a bit older in the 35 to 54 age group.


• Ticket accounts have the bulk of their tickets in ice hockey, figure skating and curling events. A higher proportion of Canadian visitors from outside BC hold tickets for women's ice hockey, curling and freestyle skiing. In contrast, a higher proportion of American ticket accounts will be taking in speed skating and mountain sports, such as ski jumping, sliding sports and alpine skiing events.


• For example, 53 per cent of Canadian ticket accounts and 49 per cent of Americans surveyed have tickets to men's ice hockey. This jumps to 68 per cent for Canadians and 62 per cent of Americans when net ice hockey tickets are taken into account.


• Twenty-seven per cent of Canadians surveyed have ceremonies tickets (Victory, Opening or Closing Ceremonies) compared with 31 per cent of Metro Vancouver and 16 per cent of American ticket accounts.

The online survey used a random sample of ticket accounts in Canada (3,556 people) and the United States (275 people). The survey is considered accurate within 1.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20 for the Canadian statistics and within 5.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20 for the American results.

A Reminder for Ticketing Customers

To ensure fair and equitable access to as many Canadians as possible, ticket customers visiting www.vancouver2010.com starting on Saturday, November 7 may be directed to a virtual waiting room, where they will be randomly selected to enter the Vancouver 2010 ticketing website. Once signed into their account, customers will be able to purchase up to four separate events, with a limit of either four or eight tickets per event. If a customer wants to order more than the limit of four events, they will need to start a new transaction. Visa is the only payment accepted.

For more helpful tips on purchasing tickets to the 2010 Winter Games, visit www.vancouver2010.com.

Important note: Access to the ticketing component of www.vancouver2010.com will close at noon today and will not open until the sale starts at 10:00 am on Saturday.

About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/

For further information: Media Contact: Greg Alexis, VANOC Communications, (604) 403-1627, greg_alexis@vancouver2010.com