The 5th TAFISA World Sport for All Games in Siauliai, Lithuania, 2012, will offer a voyage of discovery around the world.
The modern version of the Games provides the possibility not only to show the traditional sports and games of the world, but to share and experience cultures and heritage from across the globe, and understanding the important role games and sports have played in our history.
Active People. Better World is the slogan of the Games indicating the vison of event. The 5th TAFISA World Sport for All Games is an honour and recognition for Siauliai City, for Lithuania and Europe. The President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite has agreed to be a patroness of the event. International patrons of the Games are International Olympic Committee, UNESCO.
The main goal of the World Sport for All Games is to promote diversity of national cultures, cooperation, peace and welfare through sport. Victory is not the first priority. The preservation and promotion of, and participatio in, traditional sports and games to maintain and share the world‘s unique and interesting cultures and heritage is !
The games will be held in Siauliai city and Siauliai region consisting of Akmene, Joniskis, Kelme, Pakruojis, Radviliskis municipalities. Siauliai and regional venues for the Games events have exceptionally beautiful landscape and functional sport infrastructure.
Everyone is welcome to attend Lithuania and the Games in 2012 !
Lithuania is located in the middle of Europe, by the Baltic Sea with the population over 3 million. Since 2004, Lithuania a member of the European Union and shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the south-east, Poland and the Kaliningrad region (Russia) to the south west.
Siauliai is the fourth largest city in Lithuania with the population of 130 thousand inhabitants. It is the largest educational, cultural and industrial center of Northern Lithuania.
The history of Siauliai dates back to the year 1236 when the name of Siauliai and the Battle of Saule was mentioned in the Livonian historical chronicles. The Lithuanian Samogitians defeated the Livonian Order in this battle. It happened on September 22, 1236, and this date is considered to be the Siauliai city birthday.
During the World War I the city was burned down completely and in the World War II about 80% of the city was destroyed.
In 1975, Siauliai was the first city in the former Soviet Union that built the pedestrian boulevard.
Moreover, the city is famous as well for the Hill of Crosses that was visited by the Pope John Paul II in 1993.
Siauliai city is famous for its sporting and cultural events. Every year the city holds the International Sports Games Saules miestas, music festivals - Saules ziedas, Ant rubeziaus and others.
The forthcoming 5th TAFISA World Sport for All Games Siauliai 2012 will challenge Lithuania's and city's organizers of sport and culture events and the city community in general.
TAFISA (The Association For International Sport for All) was established in 1991 in Bordeaux (France). The association has about 180 members from 120 countries: Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Oceania that support and sympathize with the ideas of sport for all movement.
The TAFISA actively cooperates with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organizations (ICSSPE and others).
The president of TAFISA Dr. Kang-Too Lee from Korea was elected for four-year term in Autumn of 2009. The TAFISA secretariat and the Secretary-General Wolfgang Baumann are located in Frankfurt (Germany).
Every four years TAFISA organizes the world physical culture, sports and cultural games-festival with thousands of locals and guests from other countries, while the first one did not attract so large number of participants.
The First Games with 620 participants from 33 countries were arranged on June 23-28, 1992, in Bonn (Germany).
Bangkok (Thailand) was the location for
the Second Games on December 10-16, 1996 hosting 666 participants from 42 countries.
After four years (June 19-25, 2000) about 700 participants from 30 countries assembled in Hannover (Germany) at
the Third Games.
The Fourth Games held after 8 years on September 26 – October 1, 2008, in Busan (Korea) united over 10 300 participants: 2613 foreigners and 7687 locals. A new record of the games with 101 participating country (35 countries from Europe, 33 from Asia, 18 from America, 13 from Africa and 2 from Oceania) was achieved.
The extended games-festival program provided a new possibility not only to show the traditional sport and games but as well to gain experience, to share the multicultural heritage from the whole world.
What was the aim of the TAFISA association organizing the unique cultural and sporting games that differ from the Olympic or the Asian games models? The Busan games clarified it.
The main goal of the Games is to promote diversity of national cultures, cooperation, peace and welfare by sport.
Differently from the professional sport games victory is not the priority whilst, the Games are traditional and accessible sport for all.
One of the UNESCO commitments is to preserve and develop the traditional sport. Therefore, the world sports for all games and national culture concept promoted by TAFISA highlights the significance of the national identity striving for a peaceful cohesion.
The 5th TAFISA World Sport for All Games Siauliai 2012 will reflect this endeavor.
The Siauliai 2012 program will include: traditional sporting contests, demonstration sport events, contests for people with disabilities, championships, musical and cultural events, scientific conferences and seminars.
The flag of the Games handover ceremony to the Mayor of Siauliai Genadijus Mikšys (right)
