As Paris completes the final preparations for the 2024 Olympics, the grand opening ceremony along the River Seine on Friday will be one of its kind.
Set to be the first Olympic Games Opening Ceremony held outside a stadium, the 26 July celebration will transform the French capital into both a stadium and a theatre. The traditional parade of athletes will take place in boats along the Seine, passing by the most iconic Parisian landmarks.
Here is everything you need to know about the Opening Ceremony as we count down the days to this highly anticipated event.
When will the Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony take place?
The Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place on Friday, 26 July.
The event will start at 19:30 CEST (10:30 PST) and is expected to last more than three hours.
Why is Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony historic?
Paris 2024 will mark the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games that the Opening Ceremony is held outside a stadium.
Instead of the familiar sight of athletes marching along an athletics track, guests and viewers will be treated to a colourful river parade through the heart of the French capital.
The Seine, the city’s main waterway, will substitute for the traditional track, the quays will become spectator stands, and the setting sun reflecting off famous Parisian landmarks will provide the backdrop for the event.
This outdoor concept also makes Paris 2024 the largest Opening Ceremony in terms of audience and geographical coverage.
What is the route of the parade?
A visual tour of Parisian architecture and history will be found along the parade route along the Seine.
The flotilla will begin at the Austerlitz Bridge, which is close to the Jardin des Plantes. From there, it will travel six kilometres west along the Seine, passing under historic bridges and by famous sites like the Louvre and Notre Dame, as well as several locations from the Games, like the Grand Palais and the Esplanade des Invalides.
The athletes will eventually reach in front of the Trocadero, the esplanade across from the Eiffel Tower, where the Olympic cauldron will be ignited, the official opening of the Paris 2024 Games will take place. They will come on the boats with their national teams.
How many athletes will take part?
Around 100 boats with 10,500 athletes on board are expected to float down the Seine during the parade. 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will be represented in the parade; the larger NOCs will have their own boat, while the lesser NOCs will share a boat.
Spectators will be able to observe the competitors up close and feel their emotions thanks to camera technology installed on the decks.
How to watch the opening ceremony?
The Opening Ceremony will be witnessed live by about 600,000 people. Holding true to its tagline, "Games Wide Open," Paris 2024 made an effort to remove the event from the conventional stadium setting in order to make it as accessible as possible.
In addition to the 104,000 paid tickets on the lower quays, there were 222,000 free tickets available to witness the procession from the upper banks of the Seine. Another historic first for Paris 2024 is that this will be the first Opening Ceremony where the majority of attendees will not need to pay an admission charge.
Eighty enormous screens will be placed throughout the city to view the Opening Ceremony for those in Paris who were unable to secure tickets.
An additional 1.5 billion people from around the world are expected to tune into the television broadcasts of the ceremony.
