France: Decentralized Opening Ceremony Planned for Olympic Games in Paris 2024

From July 26 to August 11, 2024, athletes from around the world will gather in Paris to compete in 46 different sport events at the 33^rd Summer Olympics – exactly 100 years after the last Paris Olympics. The traditional opening ceremony in the Olympic stadium will not take place in 2024, but the organizing committee is planning a spectacular water parade through the French capital. Over a distance of around six kilometers, the athletes from the individual nations will travel on around 160 boats along the Seine between the two piers “Pont d’Austerlitz” and “Pont d’Iéna”. The Seine, its bridges as well as numerous sights of the city, such as the Eiffel Tower, are to be included in the parade and staged in a special way.

“[…] We have three years to carefully organise this vast celebration, with all the different actors who will be involved – I thank them all for their wholehearted commitment to making this dream a reality. Rest assured, the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony will be nothing short of magical. Its staging will be groundbreaking. It will be a ceremony for the people, open to one and all. It will show the world the very best of France. A party like no other… and the world is invited!,“ explains Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024.

With this new concept, the Paris committee breaks with an Olympic tradition, but paves the way for at least 600,000 people to witness the spectacle live. (eap)