NAY PYI TAW, Burma – The 27th Southeast Asian Games officially opened Wednesday (Dec 11th) with a lavish light show and fireworks in the Burmese capital, regional media reported.

Burma is hosting the games for the first time in more than four decades, marking a return to international sport and another milestone in its gradual emergence from decades of military rule.

Most disciplines, including track and field, begin on Thursday and run until the closing ceremony on December 22nd

The opening ceremony was held in a spotless, purpose-built 30,000-capacity stadium in Nay Pyi Taw.

Also on Wednesday, Burma freed 44 political detainees, a presidential adviser said, the latest in a series of prisoner amnesties by the country's reformist regime, AFP reported.