The London 2012 Festival was the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad, a series of nationwide cultural events to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The festival was a 12-week nationwide celebration running from 21st June to the 9th September.

More than 13,000 performances and events took place at 1,270 venues across the UK, including 160 world and UK premieres, resulting in the creation of 176 permanent artworks.

It is estimated that more than ten million people will be inspired to take part in future cultural events, according to London 2012.

16-24 year olds, approximately 38%, were the most aware of the festival.

Many colleges and universities made their mark by getting involved with Sheffield Hallam University hosting the International Student Drama Festival, which presented the very best of British and international student drama in a nine-day extravaganza of theatre, comedy, music, and workshops.

As part the Cultural Olympiad Podium and the Creative Campus Initiative ran a nationwide competition in art colleges and universities to commission four artists to create large scale works to be displayed in the Main Press Centre.

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance hosted a fun family event of dance, circus performers and interactive activities, as part of Big Dance 2012, the UKs biggest celebration of dance.

A final report on the festival and the Cultural Olympiad is set to be published by the University of Liverpool's Institute of Cultural Capital (ICC) in spring 2013.

According to Dr Beatriz Garcia who is Head of Research at ICC, the event was on a scale that topped the landmark Festival of Britain exhibition in 1951, she said:

"The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and Festival have taken unprecedented steps to promote and deliver cultural activity as a key pillar of the Games. This has resulted in a programme that has reached out to every UK nation and region, involving a scale of collaboration, commissions and audiences that matches and often exceeds that achieved for the Festival of Britain."