The Paralympic Games 2012 Opening Ceremony commences at 8.30 p.m. (3.30 p.m. ET) sparking the opening if the 11 day sports fest for athletes with disabilities. The Paralympic Games opening ceremony can be watched online through live stream (link below).

Queen Elizabeth is set to open the inspirational Games, which will feature more than 4,000 athletes from 165 countries.

Preparations have been ongoing since the close of the London 2012 Olympic Games recently, and the Paralympics is set to continue the fantastic atmosphere and sports festival taking part in London this summer with most events completely sold out already.

The opening ceremony will include a cast of about 3,000 volunteers and is being heralded as a spectacular event called "Enlightenment."

The show will be narrated by Professor Stephen Hawking and Sir Ian McKellen and will feature a scientific "journey of discovery," inspired in part by Prof Hawking's own book "A Brief History of Time."

The opening ceremony sold out months ago and a 80,000 capacity crowd will witness the spectacular opening in Stratford, east London along with the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The start of the show will feature a flypast by organization "Aerobility," which is a British charity that trains disabled people to become pilots.

It has been reported by the BBC that 50 specialist performers in the ceremony have taken part in an eight-week circus skills training program in east London, and will take part in a "high-wire act."

The main themes of the event will be empowerment and the challenging of perceptions of human possibility, mirroring the challenges that many of the paralympians have overcome themselves to represent their countries at the Games this year.

Prof Hawking will act as a guide to Miranda, a character from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, through the show, where as Sir Ian will play Prospero, another character from the play.

Co-artistic director Jenny Sealey said, "Both Hawking and McKellen in their narrative talk about what we all need to remember: don't just look down at your feet, look at the stars, be curious."

The Paralympics 2012 opening ceremony starts at 8.30 p.m. (3.30 p.m. ET) and can be watched online through live stream by clicking here.