Stadiums of the world: Rungrado May Day Stadium
This stadium is also known as the Rungrado May First Stadium and is located in the capital city of North Korea, Pyongyang. The Rungrado May Day Stadium’s name is derived from the Rungra Island in the Taedong River (which is nearby the stadium) and May Day, the international day celebrating labour, mostly celebrated in communist countries. The stadium’s roof features 16 arches arranged in a ring which resembles a parachute or magnolia blossom. The Rungrado May Day Stadium occupies floorspace of over 207,000 square metres (2.2 million feet) over 8 storeys. The stadium has a main pitch of 22,500 square metres (242,200 square feet) and also has 10 lifts and 80 exits. From the ground to the roof the Rungrado May Day Stadium is more than 60 metres high.
The Rungrado May Day Stadium is most famous for hosting the Arirang gymnastic and artistic performances (referred to generally as the Mass Games) which features more than 100,000 participants. The stadium is also used as a venue to celebrate Kim Il-sung and the North Korean nation and the odd soccer match now and then. The stadium can seat 150,000 people, making it the world’s largest non-auto racing stadium (something I found fascinating whilst reading up about this subject). Construction of the Rungrado May Day Stadium was completed in 1989. We have quite a few stadiums in South Africa, but none of our stadiums are this big or will ever be this big. The Rungrado May Day Stadium truly is remarkable.
