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Premium Ticket Packages for Opening, Closing Ceremonies at Soldier Field and Wrigley Field Go On Sale Saturday, March 11

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Chicago, IL — Tickets to this summer's hottest events in Chicago – the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2006 Gay Games - will go on sale online beginning at 10 am (CST) Saturday, 11 March 2006. The limited-availability Premium Ticket Packages – advance tickets to both ceremonies – will be available only at Tickets.GayGamesChicago.org.

According to Gay Games VII Ceremony Committee Co-Chair Greg McNitt, the seats being sold are the best non-suite tickets available for sale at each historic venue. Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-placed basis. 

Premium Ticket Packages include a ticket to the opening ceremony, 15 July 2006, at Soldier Field and a ticket to the closing ceremony, 22 July 2006, at Wrigley Field. The Premium Ticket Packages – one ticket to each ceremony -- will be available at Gold ($240), Silver ($215) or Bronze ($190) levels depending on designated stadium section.

"More than any one element, the opening and closing ceremonies embody the celebration of pride and inclusion that have made the Gay Games a transforming experience for participants and spectators for almost 25 years," said Kile Ozier, ceremonies creative director who also coordinated ceremonies for the 1994 Gay Games in New York City. "The positive energy and spectacle of the ceremonies is something people remember forever."

Tickets to the individual sports and culture events are already available online at Tickets.GayGamesChicago.org. 

Individual tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies will go on sale in late-March through Gay Games 2006 sponsor and partner pre-sales and through commercial ticketing agencies to be announced at that time.

The expected 12,000 Gay Games 2006 participants do not need to purchase ceremony tickets since their registration fee includes premiere seating at both ceremonies. Athlete registration still is open at www.gaygameschicago.org/registration/.

About Gay Games VII
Gay Games VII Sports and Cultural Festival will take place 15-22 July 2006. Over 12,000 athletes from more than 100 countries will compete in 30 sports ranging from softball to dancesport, swimming to tennis. The weeklong event will include band, cheerleading and color guard performances, chorus, an ancillary arts festival, and a series of community-organized social events and parties. The opening ceremony is scheduled for 15 July at Soldier Field, the lakefront home stadium of American-style football's Chicago Bears. Closing ceremony will be 22 July at Wrigley Field, the home of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, located in the heart of Chicago's largest LGBT neighborhood.

Global sponsors of Gay Games VII include Lexiva; PlanetOut/Gay.com; Q Television Network; Walgreens; Centaur Entertainment; The New York Times; Fleishman Hillard International Communications; Orbitz; Sydney New Mardi Gras; Windy City Media Group; Chicago Sun-Times; Olivia Cruises & Resorts; Lambda Legal Defense; McKnight Kurland Baccelli; Human Rights Campaign; Chicago Free Press; Mate, Genre, Pink and Girlfriends Magazines; and more than 120 business sponsors.

Registration for Gay Games VII is now open at www.GayGamesChicago.org (English), www.GayGamesChicago.org/es/ (Spanish), www.GayGamesChicago.org/fr/ (French), and www.GayGamesChicago.org/de/ (German).

About The Gay Games
The Gay Games was conceived by Dr. Tom Waddell, an Olympic decathlete, and was first held in San Francisco in 1982 with 1,350 participants. Subsequent Gay Games have been held in San Francisco (1986; 3,500 participants), Vancouver (1990; 7,300 participants), New York (1994; 12,500 participants), Amsterdam (1998; 13,000 participants), and Sydney (2002; 11,000 participants). 

The Federation of Gay Games is the international governing body that perpetuates the quadrennial Gay Games and promotes the event's founding principles of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best™. For more information, visit www.GayGames.org.

Chicago Games, Inc. is the host of Gay Games VII and is led by experienced civic leaders from Chicago's business, sports and non-profit sectors. For information about how to sponsor or participate in Gay Games VII in Chicago, visit www.GayGamesChicago.org, e-mail info@GayGamesChicago.org, or phone (773) 907-2006.

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