The 2009

Jeux de la Francophonie The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France, ...

(''6th Francophone Games''), was an international

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...

held from 27 September to 6 October in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Organization

The organization of the

is entrusted by the local authorities of the hosting country to a national committee – the ''Comité National des Jeux Francophones'' (CNJF). The CNJF organizes the games in conformity with the regulations and under the supervision of an international committee, the ''Comité international des Jeux de la Francophonie'' (CIJF). The CNJF’s responsibilities include accommodation, local transportation, press center, opening and closing events, medical service, safety, insurance, the promotion of its national territory, and the accreditation.

Costs

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, a traditional supporter of the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...

, regularly provides funding for the competition and in September 2009, the

Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs The minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities (french: Ministre des Affaires intergouvernementales) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the federal government's relations wit ...

and

La Francophonie LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

Josée Verner Josée Verner, (born December 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician. She represented the electoral district of Louis-Saint-Laurent in the House of Commons of Canada from 2006 to 2011 as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. She also serve ...

, stated that Canada was contributing $1 million towards the costs of the Games.

Bid

was chosen to host the sixth edition of the Jeux de la Francophonie during the 29th Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers (''Conférence des ministres de la jeunesse et des sports'') which took place in

in March 2003.

Logo and mascot

The official mascot featured a stylized image of a phoenix depicted in the colors of the

International Organization of the Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...

. This mascot was chosen by the Lebanese organizing committee (CNJF) as the symbol of the 2009 Games. The phoenix

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordm ...

was designed by Lebanese

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * ...

Armand Homsi and was dubbed 'Cédrus' following a contest organized by the CNJF in which Lara Akiki, a Lebanese citizen was awarded a prize for proposing the name for the mascot.

Venues

The Jeux de la Francophonie was held in a variety of venues throughout Lebanon. The

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU) (, ) is the only public university in Beirut, Lebanon. It is ranked #701–750 worldwide in terms of education. The creation of the Lebanese University was an idea first mentioned in the speech of the former Minist ...

campus at

Hadath Al-Ḥadath al-Ḥamrā' (Arabic for "Hadath the Red") or Adata ( el, ) was a town and fortress near the Taurus Mountains (modern southeastern Turkey), which played an important role in the Byzantine–Arab Wars. Location The town was located ...

hosted all the delegations and the participants in the campus' dorms. The university's sports facilities were used for training and the theaters hosted cultural events. The centerpiece of the 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie was the

Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium (CCSC) ( ar, ملعب مدينة كميل شمعون الرياضية; french: Cité sportive Camille-Chamoun) is a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 49,500 seats, located in the Bir Hassan area of Beiru ...

. It hosted the opening ceremony, as well as the finals of the

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

and soccer competitions. The

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

tournament was also held here, taking place in the stadium's

Pierre Gemayel Pierre Amine Gemayel, also spelled Jmayyel, Jemayyel or al-Jumayyil ( ar, بيار الجميّل; 6 November 1905 – 29 August 1984), was a Lebanese political leader. A Maronite Catholic, he is remembered as the founder of the Kataeb Party ...

facility, but the other sports competitions were held elsewhere throughout the coastal cities in Lebanon. The

Rafic Hariri Stadium Rafic Hariri Stadium ( ar, ملعب رفيق الحريري), also known as Al Manara Stadium ( ar, ملعب المنارة, links=no) or Nejmeh Stadium ( ar, ملعب نادي النجمه الرياضي, links=no), is a multi-use stadium in th ...

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast ...

and the

Beirut Municipal Stadium Beirut Municipal Stadium () is an 18,000 capacity multi-purpose stadium in Beirut, Lebanon. It is currently mostly used for football matches. History The stadium was built by the French colonials in 1935. DPHB played at the inaugural game of t ...

hosted soccer tournaments. The

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

tournaments were held in the

Homenetmen Beirut Homenetmen Beirut may refer to: * Homenetmen Beirut (basketball), a Lebanese basketball club * Homenetmen Beirut (football), a Lebanese football club See also * Homenetmen (disambiguation) {{Disambig ...

club facilities, while

Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut Al Riyadi Club Beirut ( ar, نادي الرياضي بيروت, lit=Sporting Club Beirut) is a multi-sports club based in Manara, a district in Beirut, Lebanon. Founded in 1934, the basketball team competes in the Lebanese Basketball League. ...

's arena hosted the female

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

competition. The

Michel el-Murr Stadium Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

in Bauchrieh held the

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

competitions and, further north, the

Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...

beaches hosted the beach volleyball matches. Cultural events were held in the

UNESCO Palace The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

and the Abou Khater and Béryte theaters at the

Université Saint-Joseph Saint Joseph University of Beirut ( French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', abbreviated to and commonly known as "USJ") is a private Catholic research university located in Beirut, Lebanon, which was founded in 1875 by French Jesuit m ...

in Beirut. The UNESCO Palace hosted the dance,

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

photography Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...

and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

competitions. The Abou Khater and Béryte theaters hosted the preliminary phases of

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

and

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

competitions. The final phase of these competitions took place in the

Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center The Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center (commonly BIEL) is a large multi-purpose facility, hosting exhibitions (Beirut Book Fair), conferences, concerts and private events. It opened on 28 November 2001. It moved from what is now c ...

(BIEL) and at the

Casino du Liban Casino du Liban is a casino located in Maameltein, in Lebanon and is 22 km north of Beirut. With an area of about 35,000 square meters, the casino has around 400 slot machines and 60 gaming tables. It has a showroom, night club, theater ...

Security

The Jeux de la Francophonie were held amidst the crisis of formation of the

Lebanese government Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The ...

and ever-present fears of internal turmoil. The Interior Minister,

Ziad Baroud Ziyad Baroud ( ar, زياد بارود ; born 29 April 1970) is a French Lebanese civil servant and civil society activist. He served as minister of interior and municipalities, considered to be one of the most powerful positions in the country, ...

, affirmed that the Games would put Lebanon back on the world map and stressed that the country was capable of meeting all its commitments despite its domestic crisis. Security for the event was tight with thousands of soldiers and police deployed around the various venues and at the Lebanese University main campus that hosted the "Francophone Village" at the outskirts of Beirut where participants stayed. Prime minister-designate

Saad Hariri Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri ( ar, سعد الدين رفيق الحريري, translit=Saʿd ad-Dīn Rafīq al-Ḥarīrī; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese-Saudi politician who served as the prime minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and 2016 t ...

urged all the political parties to exercise restraint, describing the Games as important for the country's image.

Media coverage

The opening ceremony of the Games was transmitted live and was watched by a television audience of around 70 million spectators across the world.

Participation

Around 3000 participants from 46 countries competed in the Games. Of these countries, 43 are full members of the

, two are associate members (

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

), and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mala ...

was the sole observer nation in attendance. Furthermore, two participating governments (

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

) also competed.

Calendar

, +Games calendar , - style="font-size:90%" , bgcolor=#8ac23d, , , Opening Ceremony, , bgcolor=#02ade5, , , Event competitions, , bgcolor=#936baa, , , Event finals, , bgcolor=#ee3333, , , Closing ceremony , - , - !September/October !width=40px, 26th !width=40px, 27th !width=40px, 28th !width=40px, 29th !width=40px, 30th !width=40px, 1st !width=40px, 2nd !width=40px, 3rd !width=40px, 4th !width=40px, 5th !width=40px, 6th !width=45px, Total , -style="font-size:90%" , Ceremonies , , , , bgcolor="#8ac23d" align="center" , ● , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , bgcolor=#ee3333 align="center" , ● , , , -style="font-size:90%" !colspan=13, Sport events , -style="font-size:90%" ,

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, , , , , , bgcolor="#936baa" align="center", ● ● ● , bgcolor="#936baa" align="center", ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● , bgcolor="#936baa" align="center", ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● , bgcolor="#936baa" align="center", ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● , bgcolor="#936baa" align="center", ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● , , align="center", 46 , -style="font-size:90%" ,

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#936baa" align="center", ● , , align="center", 1 , -style="font-size:90%" ,

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, , , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#936baa" align="center", ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● , , align="center", 11 , -style="font-size:90%" , Soccer , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , , bgcolor="#02ade5" , , bgcolor="#936baa" align="center", ● , align="center", 1 , -style="font-size:90%" ,

Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

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Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

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Cultural events Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...

, -style="font-size:90%" ,

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

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Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

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Photography Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

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Painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Games

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony began with performances from the

Internal Security Forces The Internal Security Forces Directorate ( ar, المديرية العامة لقوى الأمن الداخلي, al-Mudiriyya al-'aamma li-Qiwa al-Amn al-Dakhili; french: Forces de Sécurité Intérieure; abbreviated ISF) is the national police ...

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ...

, as well as military formation displays by

Lebanese Army ) , founded = 1 August 1945 , current_form = 1991 , disbanded = , branches = Lebanese Ground Forces Lebanese Air Force Lebanese Navy , headquarters = Yarze, Lebanon , flying_hours = , websi ...

soldiers. The ceremony was attended by delegates from 44 nations, including

French Prime Minister The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister ...

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Unio ...

, Prince Albert of Monaco and

Abdou Diouf Abdou Diouf ( ; Serer: ; born 7 September 1935)Biography at Socialist Party website

, Secretary General of the International Francophonie Organization (OIF).
Lebanese President The President of the Lebanese Republic ( ar, رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية, rayiys aljumhuriat allubnania; french: Président de la République Libanaise) is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliame ...

Michel Sleiman Michel Suleiman ( ar, ميشال سليمان ; born 21 November 1948) is a Lebanese Maronite Christian politician who served as President of Lebanon from 2008 to 2014. Before becoming president, he served as commander of the Lebanese Armed Force ...
gave a welcoming speech praising Lebanon as a country that exemplifies the International Francophonie Organization's values of "solidarity, diversity and excellence"; and officially inaugurated the games in the presence of top Lebanese officials including
caretaker Prime Minister A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

Fouad Siniora Fouad Siniora ( ar, فؤاد السنيورة, translit=Fu'ād as-Sanyūrah; born 19 July 1943) is a Lebanese politician, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon, a position he held from 19 July 2005 to 25 May 2008. He stepped down on 9 November 2009 ...
, Prime Minister-designate
Saad Hariri Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri ( ar, سعد الدين رفيق الحريري, translit=Saʿd ad-Dīn Rafīq al-Ḥarīrī; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese-Saudi politician who served as the prime minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and 2016 t ...
and Parliament Speaker
Nabih Berri Nabih Berri ( ar, نبيه مصطفى بري, translit=Nabīh Muṣṭafā Barriyy, links=hh; born 28 January 1938) is a Lebanese Shia politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon since 1992. He heads the Amal Moveme ...
. The participants in the games paraded in the stadium preceded by their national colors; many teams dressed in traditional
national costume A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indica ...
s, and some danced to the background music that was specially composed by Lebanese artist
Khaled Mouzannar Khaled is a male Arabic name, and may refer to: People * Khaled Azhari (born 1966), Egyptian politician * Khaled Chehab (1886–1978), Lebanese politician * Khaled (musician), an Algerian Raï musician * DJ Khaled, a Palestinian-American DJ Surn ...
. The
flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...
of the OIF was
Maxime Chaya Maxime Chaya ( ar, مكسيم شعيا) (born December 16, 1961) is a Lebanese sportsman, mountaineer and explorer. On May 15, 2006, he was the first Lebanese to climb Mount Everest, completing the Seven Summits challenge. On December 28, 20 ...
, the first Lebanese
mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
to climb the
Seven Summits The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven traditional continents. Climbing to the summit of all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass. Climbing the Seven Summits ...
. Chaya's speech was followed by the formal athlete's and judge's oath. An Arabic and Phoenician-style sound and light performance followed; the performance was produced by
Daniel Charpentier Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
and featured 1200 musicians, dancers and performers enacting key moments in the cultural history of Lebanon in the form of plays, songs and poetic recitals. The show revolved around a large screen displaying Lebanon's six-millennium history from prehistory, the maritime Phoenician city states in
Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...
,
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...
,
Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast ...
and
Tyre Tyre most often refers to: * Tire, the outer part of a wheel * Tyre, Lebanon, a Mediterranean city Tyre or Tyres may also refer to: Other places Lebanon * Tyre District * See of Tyre, a Christian diocese *Tyre Hippodrome, a UNESCO World Heritag ...
, to the Roman period
Baalbek Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...
relics, the later Arabic arts, and finally the modern and metropolitan
Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
. Dance routines included a mass rendition of the traditional Lebanese dance, the
Dabke ''Dabke'' ( ar, دبكة also spelled ''dabka'', ''dubki'', ''dabkeh'', plural ''dabkaat'') is a Levantine Arab folk dance. Dabke combines circle dance and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and other joyous occasions. The line f ...
, as well as a troop of
whirling dervishes The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya ( tr, Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; fa, طریقت مولویه) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya (a city now in Turkey; formerly capital of the Seljuk Sultanate) and which was founded by the followers of Jalal ...
and a contemporary dance performance, specially choreographed for the occasion. Lebanese singer
Majida El Roumi Majida El Roumi Baradhy ( ar, ماجدة الرومي برادعي; born 13 December 1956) is a Lebanese soprano singer and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. Early life Majida El Roumi Al Baradhy was born on 13 December 1956 in Kfarshima ...
sang her homage to the capital city, "Ya Beirut", before being joined for a duet with Senegalese artist
Youssou N'Dour Youssou N'Dour (, wo, Yuusu Nduur; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine describe ...
. The music of world-renowned
Lebanese Lebanese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Lebanese Republic * Lebanese people The Lebanese people ( ar, الشعب اللبناني / ALA-LC: ', ) are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may al ...
composer
Gabriel Yared Gabriel Yared (Arabic: غبريال يارد; born 7 October 1949) is a Lebanese-French composer, best known for his work in French and American cinema. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Yared scored the French films '' Betty Blue'' and '' Camille Cl ...
and
Khaled Mouzannar Khaled is a male Arabic name, and may refer to: People * Khaled Azhari (born 1966), Egyptian politician * Khaled Chehab (1886–1978), Lebanese politician * Khaled (musician), an Algerian Raï musician * DJ Khaled, a Palestinian-American DJ Surn ...
accompanied the ceremony. A fireworks display marked the end of the official opening ceremony, followed by a concert by Youssou N'Dour.

Events
The 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie featured 13 competitions, 7 sport events and 6 cultural contests.
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
athlete
Jared MacLeod Jared MacLeod (born 3 April 1980 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian athlete specializing in the high hurdles. He won the silver at the 2005 Summer Universiade. His outdoor 110 meters hurdles personal best is 13.54 from 2005. His indoor 60 meters ...
broke the
games record A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...
in the 110 meters hurdles race,
Yahya Berrabah Yahya Berrabah ( ar, يحيى بالرابح, born 13 October 1981 in Oujda) is a Moroccan long jumper. He is a five-time participant at the World Championships in Athletics (2003–2011) and has twice represented his country at the Olympic Gam ...
from
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...
scored both a games and a national record in the men's long jump discipline.
Ihab Al Sayed Abdelrahman Ihab El Sayed Abdelrahman (born 1 May 1989) is an Egyptian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. His personal best of 89.21 metre, m is the List of Egyptian records in athletics, Egyptian record. El Sayed splits his time bet ...
from
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
and
Lindy Leveau-Agricole Lindy Brigitte Leveaux-Agricole (born 14 November 1978 in Victoria, Seychelles) is a Seychellois javelin thrower. Her personal best throw is 57.86 metres, achieved in June 2005 in Victoria. This is the national record. She also holds national ...
from the
Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
scored new games records respectively for men's and women's javelin throw and
Manuela Montebrun Manuela Montebrun (born 13 November 1979) is a retired, female hammer thrower from France. She is an Olympic bronze medallist and two-time World Championship bronze medallist. Career Born in Laval, Mayenne, Montebrun won two back-to-back World ...
from
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
also broke the game record for
women's hammer throw The first World Record in the hammer throw for women ( athletics) was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1994. Up to today, the IAAF has ratified 25 world records in the event. Record Progression Referen ...
. The
Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: ** Armenian Cypriots ** Greek Cypriots ** Maronite Cypriots ** Tur ...
women's basketball team which had won four matches was disqualified for exceeding the permitted number of
naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...
players.

Sports
*
Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
() *
Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
() * Beach volleyball () *
Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
() *
Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...
() *
Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...
() *
Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
()

Cultural
*
Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...
* Storytelling * Traditional inspiration dance *
Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...
*
Painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
*
Photography Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...
*
Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Medal count
Total Games medal count

Closing ceremony
The 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie games closing ceremony took place in BIEL, downtown Beirut, on 7 September. The festivities were opened with a classical concert led by
conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...
Harout Fazlian, followed by a
folkloric Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...
African music concert specially composed for the occasion. Eliya Francis and Cynthia Samaha interpreted
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
's opera
Bastien und Bastienne ' (''Bastien and Bastienne''), K. 50 (revised in 1964 to K. 46b) is a one-act singspiel, a comic opera, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ' was one of Mozart's earliest operas, written in 1768 when he was only twelve years old. It was allegedly commi ...
, and the following set by
Canzone Napoletana Canzone napoletana (), sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song ( nap, canzona napulitana ), is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well represented b ...
was also interpreted by Francis. A large Zorba ring preceded the concert of the Lebanese pop artist
Ragheb Alama Ragheb Alama ( ar, راغب علامة born 7 June 1962) is a Lebanese singer, dancer, composer, television personality, and philanthropist. Alama began his career in the 1980s when he appeared as a contestant on the talent show broadcast Studio E ...
accompanied by
belly dance Belly dance (Egyptian Arabic: رقص بلدي, translated: Dance of the Country/Folk Dance, romanized: Raks/Raas Baladi) is a dance that originates in Egypt. It features movements of the hips and torso. It has evolved to take many different f ...
rs. The festivities ended with an electronic music event by the
Franco Elektro Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
competition winner DJ Rio Tony-T, who opened for
Antoine Clamaran Antoine Clamaran-Danzelle (; born 8 November 1964) is a French house music producer, DJ and remixer. Clamaran was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the d ...

References

External links

Official websiteMedal winners 2009 at jeux.francophonie.org

Medal tables at jeux.francophonie.org

Opening ceremony video 1Opening ceremony video 2Opening ceremony video 4Opening ceremony video 6
{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 Jeux De La Francophonie Jeux de la Francophonie, 2009
Jeux de la Francophonie The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France, ...
Sport in Lebanon Jeux de la Francophonie International sports competitions hosted by Lebanon Multi-sport events in Lebanon 2000s in Beirut