According to the London Evening Standard, hundreds of parties, concerts, events and similar spectacles will take place across the city throughout the Games and in the build up to the international sporting extravaganza. Huge events have been planned, from spectacular light shows at famous landmarks to live musical performances on the Thames.

During the events themselves, those unable to attend the games in person will be able to view the competition at several massive venues throughout the city. In addition to a 40,000 capacity viewing venue in Hackney and a site for 6,000 people near City Hall there will be locations at Jubilee Gardens and Kings Cross, as well as a huge 60,000 multi-screen venue in the middle of Hyde Park.

Yet these centrally organised celebrations are just the tip of the iceberg. Over the next two years, the Evening Standard says that companies, organisations and individuals based in London will be encouraged to host their own parties.

Enthusiasm for the landmark sporting event was evident earlier this week, as London Mayor Boris Johnson and Sebastian Coe, the London 2012 chairman, launched the official two-year countdown for the event. Mayor Johnson told Britons to start making their plans for a unique celebration.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Coe said: “There are two years to go until the Olympic Games begin and we want everyone to start planning their once in a lifetime experience in 2012.”

It’s the second time in four years that event signs advertising the local spring fair have been stolen from the village.

The fair is the main fund-raising event in the village, which generates money for the village hall that recently had to have £25,000 worth of building work on it to ensure it complies with health and safety.

Rosemary Coe, chairman of the village hall committee, expressed her anger over the crime. She said: “This is the main fund-raiser for the village hall to pay back to loans we borrowed to pay for some of the building works. Things like this just shouldn’t happen. I don’t think it was the council because only one of two signs has been taken. Whoever it is just wanted the wood.”

The 3ft by 2ft 2in wooden sign, worth £40, was erected Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning it had vanished.

“I would just like to make people aware that village halls have it hard enough as it is,” she said. ”Our villagers work so hard. It’s taken three years of constant having to have work done.”

It’s hoped the public can help to create 30 banners during a series of workshops held at the Kirkgate Centre in West Cumbria. The banners will represent what the town means to them, and be displayed on the main street during the festival.

The recyclable banners will be made from multicoloured fabric to create a rainbow theme.

Children from the All Saints School in Cockermouth designed a banner for the Cockermouth Midsummer Festival, and now families are being encouraged to attend the workshops too, as the arts group are looking for as many creative volunteers as possible. ”We are also looking for volunteers to come and help us sew and finish the banners after each session,” said Rosy Thurston, apprentice theatre practitioner.

The sessions will be overseen by artists from Storytree, a lead partner in the West Cumbria Arts Partnership. Storytree is the engagement arm of the Theatre by the Lake in Cumbria. They work with children and adults in schools and community centres, at festivals and communities, to engage the community in creative activities.

The organisation’s Lung Walk is a fund raising event that will sell ‘Helping Others Breathe’ signs that can be personalised and placed along the route. The event signs will also be used for corporate sponsorship of the event.

Chelsea Buchanan is a student from Knoxville, who has suffered from asthma since she was a baby. Chelsea will be taking part in the Lung Walk; to date she’s raised over $8,000 for charities already.

Chelsea has been hospitalised numerous times because of her asthma, but it hasn’t prevented her from living an active life. She’s a competitive ice figure skater, but she says her asthma has held her back at times. She’s joining the Lung Walk because she wants to promote how important the cause is.

During the event people can have allergy or asthma testing, meet up with other sufferers, climb a rock wall and listen to music.

Organisers say the signs, which are “messages of hope, celebration or tribute”, can be used to “honour a loved one struggling with lung disease; remember someone who has lost the fight against lung disease; celebrate a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary and show recognition for an extraordinary person in your life”.

The event gathers together professionals in the signs, vinyl banners and poster printing trade with industry suppliers and corporate clients. Some companies have been planning their exhibitions at IPEX for years, with Print Week reporting that nearly 70,000 people are expected to attend the conference and expo – a record in the event’s history.

Organisers have been concerned about how people planning to attend from overseas would find their way to the expo in the face of ongoing airspace disruptions. They have welcomed the news that the British Airways strike is to be called off and that the volcanic ash cloud has moved away for now, with event director Trevor Crawford saying the developments were a “massive relief.”

Over 1,000 companies will attend and exhibit their goods and services at the expo. As well as creation and design businesses who specialise in creating signage, there will also be post press and finishing companies, used equipment vendors and providers of digital solutions.

Trevor Crawford says that so far, the event has shown the resilience of the industry throughout the economic recession.

“The fact that just about every manufacturer is here at the show…underlines just how resilient this industry is, even in the current economic difficulties,” he told Print Week. “In every hall I walk through, I’m hearing exhibitors talking extremely positively about seminar and meeting programmes.”