A rainbow over Preston houses. The WE PLAY rainbow will be visible for four nights from March 8th

A giant rainbow will be projected from the centre of Preston next week to signal the start of the Olympic’s cultural legacy.

The light show, which will be visible from up to 12 and a half miles away, lasts for four nights from March 8th.

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The huge beam of light – called The Global Rainbow – is made up of seven parallel beams of high spec lasers representing the seven colours of the rainbow.

It will mark the start of the Cultural Olympiad and hundreds of cultural events happening across the North West as part of the London 2012 Olympics.

Debbi Lander, the 2012 Creative Programmer for the North West, said: “London 2012 is not just about sport or spectatorship. It’s an opportunity to connect, to collaborate and be part of a community; and to celebrate the world’s largest global gathering on earth.

“This is our chance to reach out and feel part of something bigger and to use London 2012 as a platform to create interaction and community across the North West.”

The cultural events form part of the WE PLAY expo which will be held in Preston from the 7th to 9th of September and is part of the Preston Guild.

It will showcase outdoor arts, digital innovation and young producers.

Stella Hall, Festival Director of Preston Guild 2012, said: “We are delighted to be working with extraordinary artists of the calibre of Yvette Mattern in this extraordinary year.

“The coincidence of Preston Guild with London 2012 is an auspicious one and we are proud to launch the year‟s Cultural Olympiad journey for the North West region here in Preston. We look forward to welcoming artists and sportspeople and their audiences all back to ours in September.”

The switch on takes place outside the Harris Museum on Thursday 8th March at 7pm.

More information about the Cultural Olympiad is available on the North West for 2012 website.

If you see the rainbow please snap a photo and post it on the Preston Flickr group or email it to us contactus@blogpreston.co.uk and say where you were. We want to see from how far away it can be seen!

Image credit to George D Thompson