Scheduled for July 26, 2024, the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics is expected to offer a grand spectacle, according to Thierry Reboul, executive director of ceremonies. The member of the Olympic Games Organizing Committee (COJO) revealed some details about the highly anticipated event to RMC Sport on Tuesday, February 27. The ceremony will take place on the Seine, with an artistic approach and the construction of a 100,000-seat stadium along 12 km of quays.
Twelve tableaus during the parade
Marc Guillaume, prefect of the Île-de-France region, had also indicated to Ouest-France that the event would be the first opening ceremony outside of a stadium, with a river parade from the Austerlitz bridge to the Trocadéro. “It’s a big organizational task,” he explained. The logistical setup should involve transporting 10,000 athletes by bus from the Olympic village to around a hundred boats upstream.
“The opening ceremony will consist of twelve tableaus,” Thierry Reboul also explained to RMC. There is a major innovation brought by Thomas Jolly (artistic director of the ceremony), which is to combine the artistic tableaus with the athletes’ parade… and mix it all together.
A narrative centered on France
The athletes’ parade is expected to be built around a narrative centered on France. “All the monuments you go through represent a moment in French history. We will certainly focus more on values,” detailed the executive director of ceremonies. “You can think of anything, there is a good chance you might see it on that day,” he concluded, comparing the ceremony to a film. “A film of over three hours.”
As for security, Marc Guillaume announced the deployment of 35,000 agents to protect the 300,000 spectators expected on the quays. Navigation on the Seine will be closed from July 20, 2024, for security and décor installation reasons. The prefect assured that the preparations are “progressing well.”
