Commonwealth Games begin in Glasgow with as King Charles attends opening ceremony

Glasgow will welcome thousands of athletes and visitors as the Commonwealth Games begin on Thursday.

Around 3,000 competitors from 74 nations will take part in the event, which returns to the city 12 years after it last hosted the Games.

Competition gets under way with bowls and para bowls at the Scottish Event Campus from 9.30am as part of an additional Day 0 programme.

The Games will then be officially opened by King Charles and Queen Camilla during a ceremony at Glasgow’s Hydro – the first in Commonwealth Games history to be staged entirely indoors.

Olympic and Commonwealth cycling champion Chris Hoy SNS Group

During the event, the King will read the message placed in the King’s Baton when he launched the relay on Commonwealth Day last year. The reading will formally declare the Games open.

Over 500 days, the baton has travelled through all 74 Commonwealth nations and territories – the longest relay in the Games’ history – with each nation crafting and decorating its own baton to reflect its culture and identity.

Sir Chris Hoy, who was the relay’s first baton bearer, will also take part in the ceremony, which organisers have described as “a creative kaleidoscope and Clyde-built journey packed full of music, humour and Scottish surprise”.

Glasgow stepped in to host the tournament after Victoria in Australia pulled out amid concerns over rising costs, meaning this year’s contest will be smaller than when the Games were last held in Glasgow in 2014.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will attend the Commonwealth Games' opening ceremony — King Charles and Queen Camilla will attend the Commonwealth Games’ opening ceremony Getty Images

Ten sports are to be played at the event, scaled down from 17 at the previous tournament.

First Minister John Swinney said: “I want to wish everyone in Team Scotland every success in the Commonwealth Games, they should compete with pride and with passion.

“I’m so proud of the city of Glasgow who have made these Games possible, without the city of Glasgow the Games could not have happened and they have stepped in to make sure his competition can happen.

Swinney said he was “looking forward” to what he was “sure will be an absolutely outstanding opening ceremony” in front of the King and Queen on Thursday.

“I think it will be another joyful moment for the city of Glasgow,” he added.