Poland trips the light fantastic

The citizens of Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan and Wroclaw have had a closer look at the new UEFA EURO 2012™ logo over the last week as a series of events showcased the tournament's inspiring visual identity.

Warsaw gathering
As the centrepiece of celebrations in all four cities, iconic local buildings were illuminated with the bloom logo by Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter. The first city to be lit up was Warsaw, with thousands gathering at the Polish capital's Palace of Culture and Science – which will host the UEFA EURO 2012™ draw ceremony in February – along with Polish tournament director Adam Olkowicz and Polish Football Federation (PZPN) president Grzegorz Lato.

'Culture and nature'
Both came to the ceremony straight from the logo launch in Kyiv, with Olkowicz telling uefa.com: "The logo is very original and reflects the culture and nature of both Poland and Ukraine. I like the idea of the flower as it means these countries are developing. The Polish media reported the events in Kyiv and Warsaw extensively and this is a success for us.

Missionary work
"On Monday, when the logo was unveiled, there was also a big football gala in Warsaw as the Polish Player of the Year was chosen," added Olkowicz. "During this event, which was attended by the 500 most important people in Polish football, we unveiled the logo again, so I think we have done our best to make it quite popular in the Polish football world ever since it was unveiled."

Green Gate lit up
From Wednesday to Thursday, the bloom could be seen on the famous Green Gate in Gdansk, where city president Paweł Adamowicz said: "The logo was perfectly visible and that was good as it will be with us until June 2012. I believe it will end up being like a friend for us."

Poznan passions
In Poznan, the illumination ceremony on Friday saw popular local priest Father Jan Góra and rapper Mezo presented as the leaders of a team of eleven city ambassadors for UEFA EURO 2012™. "I feel extremely happy to be chosen as a EURO ambassador," declared Mezo, who gave a concert after the ceremony. "Thanks to this I can combine my two passions – football and music." A friend of Germany star Lukas Podolski, Mezo started out as a trainee player at Lech Poznań before opting for a career in music.

Countdown clock
The final illumination ceremony took place in Wroclaw on Sunday, where a special clock was unveiled, which will count down the days until the tournament kicks off in novel fashion. Wroclaw president Rafał Dutkiewicz officially set the timepiece, which has been filled with 1800 small balls. Every day, at random times, two of the balls will spring out of the clock to give lucky passers-by an exciting piece of EURO memorabilia. An exhibition has also been opened, called 'Wroclaw on track for UEFA EURO 2012™', offering aerial views of the local facilities which will host the tournament.

Popular sensation
The new logo has been a big hit across Poland. Online research agence Gemius carried out an opinion poll for Newsweek Polska, asking the simple question: 'Do you like the logo?' The results showed that more than 60 per cent of Poles were in favour, with 44 per cent answering 'yes' and 17 per cent giving an even more positive 'definitely, yes'.