January 23, 2013 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013 presented by Viessmann will begin in less than one month on 20th February in Italy’s Val di Fiemme. Thanks to recent abundant snowfalls, the alpine valley in the Trentino region is in perfect shape to welcome athletes from around the globe as well as thousands of Nordic ski fans.

On 20th January, the Trento main square (Piazza Duomo) will be hosting the official Opening Ceremony including a nations’ team parade and music of the internationally renowned Balkan artist Goran Bregovic who composed the official anthem.

From the day after, Val di Fiemme will be staging 12 days of spectacular events in the disciplines of Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined in the stadiums of Lago di Tesero and Predazzo. After the qualification races for the Cross-Country distance events, the first medal event will be held on 21st February with the Cross-Country sprint in the classical technique. Side events of all kinds including live music and dance shows, will be filling up the competition days with the prize giving ceremonies taking place in the Cavalese town centre.

During the first weekend of January 2013, Val di Fiemme already hosted the Tour de Ski final stages and the Organising Committee once again showed their remarkable skills both from a technical and organisational points of view. The group of volunteers – known as the ‘Blue Angels’ due to their uniform colour – fulfilled every duty on the field and confirmed their importance as part of the Fiemme 2013 team. There will be 1300 volunteers during the Worlds.

In the past two years, both the Cross-Country stadium in Lago di Tesero and the Ski Jumping arena in Predazzo have been fully renewed with profound respect to environmental issues (Val di Fiemme received the UNI EN ISO 14001 certification in 2003), and according to the specific requirements for disabled people.

For further information, visit the official Fiemme 2013 website: www.fiemme2013.com