The opening ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games took place on Saturday, 18 August 2018, at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia. The event commenced at 19:00 Indonesia Western Time (UTC+7) and ended at 21:25 local time. Wishnutama Kusubandio (then CEO of Indonesian TV network NET.) was the creative director of the ceremony. The ceremony featured a stage designed as a 26-meter-high mountain with a waterfall. It weighed 600 tons, was 120 meters long and 30 meters wide, and included a display of Indonesian plants and flowers, as well as a mock volcano. The volcano symbolized Indonesia's location in the "Ring of Fire" surrounding the Pacific Ocean. Host event broadcasting company International Games Broadcast Services (IGBS) filmed the televised coverage of the ceremony live internationally.
Proceedings
Prelude
Before the ceremony commenced, footage of the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, leaving Bogor Palace for Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in a motorcade, was shown. When the motorcade was blocked by a parade of Indonesian supporters, the President exited his car, put on a black helmet and rode a Yamaha FZ1 to escape the traffic jam. After performing some stunt maneuvers and helping a group of students and a teacher to cross the road, he was joined by a motorcycle escort and approached the stadium. As the first part of the footage ended, a motorcyclist dressed as the President entered the stadium and headed to the basement. The second part of footage then showed President Widodo riding the motorcycle before reaching an elevator, at which point the real President entered the VVIP seating area.
It was suggested that the motorcyclist who entered the stadium was a stunt double: unlike the President, the motorcyclist did not wear a ring on the left hand. After the games' closing ceremony, Thai stuntman Withithep Komolhiran ( Suddum So) revealed himself on Instagram to be the President's stunt double in the filmed segments. He initially revealed his identity on Instagram after the opening ceremony, but the original post was later deleted. It is unclear whether the motorist performed live in the stadium was the same stuntman or not.
Countdown
A ten-to-zero city central business district metropolitan countdown video was then shown featuring spots in Jakarta; the last two was the Jakarta's National Monument and the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
Main event
After that, 1,600 high school dancers from 18 senior high schools across Jakarta performed the Ratoh Jaroe dance, a traditional dance similar to Saman dance from Aceh, the westernmost province of Indonesia. As their performance progresses, they changed the colors of their costumes and forming different patterns which evolved into the flag of Indonesia in the end. The dance was choreographed by renowned singer and dancer Denny Malik.
During the Parade of Nations, North Korean and South Korean teams marched together under one unified flag of Korea. As per tradition, Indonesia as the host nation entered last. The "Ocean Corridor Music" was used throughout the 40-minute long segment.
The only dangdut song of the album, "Meraih Bintang", was chosen as the theme song for the 2018 Asian Games. It was written by Pay and sung by popular dangdut singer Via Vallen. She performed the song after all the athletes participated in the parade took their seat.
The ceremony observed a moment of silence to remember the victims of the recent Lombok earthquake right after the Indonesian flag was raised by the Paskibraka youth group troop. The troop comprised 70 students with 17 people as guides, eight people as flag bearers and 45 people as guards, which represents Indonesia’s Independence Day, 17 August 1945. After speeches from the Organizing Committee chairman Erick Thohir and president Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah of the Olympic Council of Asia, President Widodo officially opened the games.
"In the name of all the people of Indonesia, we are proud, we are honored, by getting special guests from 45 countries. In the 18th Asian Games, we, the nations of Asia, want to show that we are brothers and sisters, we are united, we want to achieve. And, with saying Bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm, the 18th Asian Games in 2018, I declare [it] open!"
– Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia, declaring the games open in Indonesian.