OREANDA-NEWS. August 25, 2011. The record-breaking road-show, Sochi Drive, has begun in Moscow as a part of the build up to the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The road-show will last for the whole 3 years ahead of the Games and will visit 14 cities of Russia, with four events being staged before the end of 2011. The goal of this large-scale event, set up by the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and VOLKSWAGEN Group Rus Company, a General Partner of the Games, is to further promote the Games to the whole Russia and offer all Russian citizens the chance to experience an involvement in Olympic history.

The road-show kicked-off on the Vorobievi Gori, on the ground opposite the main Moscow State University entrance. A complex specially created for SochiDrive, containing several inflatable pavilions and covering a total area of 7000 sq.m, accommodated 1000 guests. The look of the pavilions was designed to closely resemble the event logo – with bright multi-colored arches.

Thanks to the Sochi Drive, the residents and guests of Moscow had an opportunity to observe an exhibition performance of the winter athletes, including figure-skaters, hockey players and curling masters who displayed their skills on the indoor skating-ring, and snowboarders who demonstrated breathtaking tricks on the specially installed ramp. In addition to the sport, the “Serebro” group and Assai played their popular songs to the delight of the Sochi Drive guests.

Before the end of 2011, Sochi Drive is going to visit the four Russian cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Volgograd and Krasnodar. Tens of thousands of guests are expected to visit the events in each of these cities.

The General Director of VOLKSWAGEN Group Rus Company Markus Ozegovich commented:

“Sochi Drive, for us means” On the way to Sochi” and it is these words that we have chosen as the slogan of our project. Our aim is to instill Winter Olympiad excitement into all the people of Russia and to instill a feeling of pride for the important role of Russia as the next country to stage the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games. VOLKSWAGEN Group Rus is the General Partner of the 2014 Games, and we are happy that these cars will be used to deliver Holiday to the Russian regions”.

Within the frameworks of the Sochi Drive, other partners of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee have also created their own events. For example, during the road-show Coca-Cola will showcase a collection of Olympic torches, souvenirs and collectable artifacts to all Russian people. The guests will also have an opportunity to view a Panasonic presentation of 3D video, provided by the Panasonic Olympic 3D Cinema home theatre and 3D playing station.

On the Sochi Drive holiday participants will be able to buy clothes with the “Sochi 2014” logo at the BOSCO Sport stand. “Rosneft” will give the test-driver participants a chance to explore the new premium-class fuel “For a”, and “Ingosstrakh” will present attractive insurance products for car owners.

Sochi 2014 Ambassadors avidly supported the event in Moscow. The Olympic Games bobsleigh medal winner, Aleksey Voevoda, organized an arm wrestling master-class. Artists from the children’s music theatre group, “Domisolka” sang the Sochi 2014 anthem and figure-skaters Maxim Shabalin and Oxana Domnina recited the welcoming speech at the projects opening ceremony.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, President of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, commented:

“The Sochi Drive project was created to highlight that Sochi 2014 is the Games for everyone. This is the perfect demonstration that shows us as a team that has their sights set on victory in 2014! I would like to thank VOLKSWAGEN Group Rus Company and all of our partners for the brilliant organization of the event. With their help we can “bring part” of the future Games to different Russian cities. So buckle up! It's going to be a great ride!”.