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22:50
Closing Ceremony facts & stats: Number 8

50 bird puppets
12 fire wings
16 acrobats (trickers)
20 fire dancers
76 sand dancers
152 silk dancers

22:46
Closing Ceremony facts & stats: Number 6

3 stages in the shape of a buta, an ancient almond-shaped design found on Azerbaijani decorative artworks and architecture. Together, the three stages cover 600m2
9 custom-built cyr wheels with hexagon-shaped lighting bars
20 LED costumes, containing 4,617m pieces of LED, covering 3,322
50 custom-built LED hexagonal panels. Each one is controlled by
a computer on the performer`s belt

Next up is Patrick Hickey, the Irishman who`s considered the brainchild behind the concept of these Games. He`s praising Azerbaijan, the Land of Fire, for being "warm and gracious hosts".

He`s praising athletes for their sporting performances, as well as organisers for their innovative outlook in catering these Games to a specific city. Now he`s onto unity - no surprises here -.which "brings all the athletes of Europe together" under the common values of sport.

"The foundations will endure and inspire, and, I say this with complete certainty. The future is bright for Azerbaijan, the future is bright for the European Games."

He then declares Baku 2015 closed.

21:57
A big cheer when Mehriban Aliyeva, First Lady praises the athletes. She`s praising the EOC, Patrick Hickey and Coordination Commission chair Spyros Capralos, and then the fans who have travelled here...

`Our country has a great youth and a talented future,` she adds before thanking international volunteers who have travelled here for these Games.` A very loud roar greets that once the translation is processed in the local language...

21:54
Aliyeva is thanking everyone for their hospitality and support during the Games, which she describes as a "victory for independent Azerbaijan".

"The first European Games has come to an end," she adds. "The last 17 days were remarkable and unforgettable in the history of our county. We`re proud that in two and a half years we have turned our commitment into reality and produced an event of the highest standards."

Unity and togetherness of Europe has been shown, she adds, before praising Azerbaijani medal success. "Thanks to the athletes for making the first European Games such an unforgettable festival of sport.

21:25
Closing Ceremony facts & stats: Number 4

6,000 athletes in the Games, though not all of them are here to take part in this evening`s Parade of Athletes
50 flags
50 placard holders
150 marshalls

21:55
Here come the flags of each of the 50 nations competing here in Baku.

21:23
The Parade of Athletes is now underway with Azerbaijan and Greece leading the way. They are entering the stadium to a children`s choir singing a folk tune called `Cal Oyna`.

21: 17
Having begun with traditional music we have got distinctly more modern. And here`s why. The respresntation of Maiden Tower in the Old City of Baku has been pulled apart revealing the three Flame Towers. Very ingenious. The old and the new.
Closing Ceremony facts & stats: Number 3

4 minutes to inflate the "Maiden Tower" and "Flame Towers"
10 height in metres of the "Maiden Tower" in this Closing Ceremony. The real one raises to 30 metres and its walls are 5m thick at floor level
12,500 man hours to make the skirts for the three giant sculptures. The skirts are 23m in circumference

The closing ceremony of the first European Games has started in Baku.

The ceremony is being held at the Baku Olympic Stadium.

The closing ceremony is being attended by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and Azerbaijan’s First Lady, Chairperson of the Baku 2015 European Games Organizing Committee Mehriban Aliyeva.

The European Games kicked off in Baku June 12 and are wrapping up tonight on June 28. Baku 2015 First European Games hosted 20 sports – 16 Olympic and four non-Olympic sports.

More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe came to Baku to represent their nations over 17 days of competition. Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.

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