IPL 2025 Opening Ceremony: Not Just Kolkata, BCCI to Stage Special Celebration Across All 13 Venues - Report

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly planning to stage an opening ceremony across all 13 venues of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, starting with the curtain-raiser in Kolkata.

A grand opening ceremony featuring performances from Bollywood stars and Indian music artists is expected to light up IPL 2025 season opener at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata before reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) begin their title defence at home.

Although there is no confirmation on who will be performing during the ceremony, a latest report from Sportstar suggests that the opening ceremony will be held across all the venues before their first match.

The report adds that the IPL 2025 opening ceremony will not just be restricted to Kolkata as the BCCI wants to add more flavour to the tournament by celebrating across the various venues, where the matches will be staged this season.

"We wanted to add more flavour to the tournament so that spectators from each and every venue can get a taste of the opening ceremony. For the cultural programmes in each venue, we are planning to create a line-up of national and local artists," a source told Sportstar.

Singer Shreya Ghosal and Bollywood star Disha Patani are expected to be the key performers for the opening ceremony in Kolkata, while the BCCI is in final stages of conversation with potential performers for the other 12 events and there is chance that the line-up will be finalised by Wednesday (March 19).

"The idea is to have a varied pool of Bollywood artists performing for all the programmes, and with limited time in between the innings, two to three artists could be accommodated for these events," the source added before indicating about the logistical challenges.

"Since this is happening at such a scale for the first time, there are some logistical issues as well. So, the BCCI and State associations are working in tandem to ensure that the programmes are conducted smoothly without hampering the matches."

IPL 2025 will be held across 13 venues, including the 10 traditional home venues and three additional venues which have been used as second home for three franchises. Guwahati and Visakhapatnam will be two venues used as second home by Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals respectively.

Meanwhile, PBKS, who previously staged their home games in Mohali, switched to Mullanpur as their home venue and will continue to use Dharamsala as their second home venue in the upcoming season.

IPL season 18 opens in Kolkata on Saturday (March 22) before the action shifts to Hyderabad and Chennai for the first double-header of the campaign on Sunday (March 23). Vizag, Ahmedabad and Guwahati will stage the next three matches.