page_title: 2018 Asian Games opening ceremony
section_title: Main event
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 Asian Games opening ceremony / Proceedings / Main event
caption_attribution_description: English: The flame blazed during the 2018 Asian Games on the cauldron at the GBK Sports Complex
context_page_description: The opening ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games took place on Saturday, 18 August 2018, at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia. The event commenced at 19:00 Indonesia Western Time and ended at 21:25 local time. Wishnutama was the creative director of the ceremony. The ceremony featured a stage designed as a 26-meter-high mountain with a waterfall. It weighed 600 tons, was 120 meters long and 30 meters wide, and included a display of Indonesian plants and flowers, as well as a mock volcano. The volcano symbolized Indonesia's location in the "Ring of Fire" surrounding the Pacific Ocean. Host event broadcasting company International Games Broadcast Services filmed the televised coverage of the ceremony live internationally.
context_section_description: After that, 1,600 high school dancers from 18 senior high schools across Jakarta performed the Ratoh Jaroe dance, a traditional dance similar to Saman dance from Aceh, the westernmost province of Indonesia.
  During the Parade of Nations, North Korean and South Korean teams marched together under one unified flag of Korea. As per tradition, Indonesia as the host nation entered last.
  The only dangdut song of the album, "Meraih Bintang", was chosen as the theme song for the 2018 Asian Games. It was written by Pay and sung by popular dangdut singer Via Vallen. She performed the song after all the athletes participated in the parade took their seat.
  
  The ceremony observed a moment of silence to remember the victims of the recent Lombok earthquake right after the Indonesian flag was raised by the Paskibraka youth group troop. The troop comprised 70 students with 17 people as guides, eight people as flag bearers and 45 people as guards, which represents Indonesia’s Independence Day, 17 August 1945.
  "In the name of all Indonesians, we are proud, we are honored, getting special guests from 45 countries. In the 18th Asian Games, we are the nations of Asia want to show that we are brothers and sisters, we are one,  we want to achieve. And, with saying Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, the 18th Asian Games in 2018 I declare open!"
  - Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia, declaring the Games open in Indonesian.
  After speeches from the Organizing Committee chairman Erick Thohir and president Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah of the Olympic Council of Asia, President Widodo officially opened the games.
  Eight former athletes, who all had participated in the Summer Olympic Games, carried the OCA flag which was raised by the aforementioned troop. The former athletes were three badminton Olympic gold medalists, all in men's doubles; Christian Hadinata (1972 – albeit listed as 1978 Asian Games gold medalist since the 1972 event was not an official Olympic event), Candra Wijaya (2000), and Markis Kido (2008), two of the three athletes who won silver in 1988 women's team archery event – Indonesia's first ever Olympic medal; Lilies Handayani and Kusuma Wardhani, bronze medalist in 2000 Olympics women's 48 kg weightlifting Sri Indriyani, and two Asian Games medalists who did not win any medals in the Olympics; Lely Sampurno (silver medalist on 50 metre pistol in the 1962 shooting event, participated on 25 metre pistol event in 1984) and Suharyadi (gold medalist on mixed doubles in the 1990 tennis event, participated on men's singles in 1984 and men's doubles in 1988 and 1992). After the raising, Indonesian basketball player Arki Dikania Wisnu and badminton umpire Wahyana read the athlete's and referee's oath.
  Soon afterwards was the creative segments, divided into five parts: Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, and Energy of Asia. The water, earth, wind and fire depict the natural beauty of Indonesia and also the country's courage and competitive spirit, while Energy of Asia, the final segment named after the games motto, was about how future generations will help build Indonesia into a leader of tomorrow while remembering their guiding principles of respect and equality.
  During the Fire segment, there were Balinese-clad dancers carrying drums and some carried two-end torches. They formed a formation to make way for the final torch relay. The games torch was relayed by Indonesia's former Asian Games gold medalists; Lanny Gumulya (women's 3 metres springboard diving in 1962), Arief Taufan Syamsuddin (men's kumite 60 kg karate in 1998), Yustedjo Tarik (men's singles tennis in 1982), Supriyati Sutono (women's 5000 metres athletics in 1998), and Oka Sulaksana (men's mistral heavy sailing in 2002). Indonesia's first Olympic gold medalist Susi Susanti – who won the coveted title in the 1992 badminton women's singles – became the final bearer and lit the volcano's crater. It was followed by aerial and ground fireworks bursts which ended on the actual cauldron located on the southeast of the stadium;  the flame itself lit up before the ground fireworks r
caption: The new cauldron of the GBK carried the Asian Games flame
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