On Monday, the Paris 2024 Olympics announced the location of the Opening Ceremony for the games, and it is a location unlike any other. The event will take place along the River Seine and will be open to the public. This is the first Olympic Games to have the Opening Ceremony on water and organizers are expecting 600,000 to be in attendance.
26/07/2024 - Are you ready for this?
— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) December 13, 2021
On the River Seine, the most spectacular & accessible Opening Ceremony in Olympic history. Open to all, open to you!
Sur la Seine, la plus grande cérémonie d'ouverture des Jeux Olympiques. Ouverte à tous, ouverte à vous !#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/5th1CEeZAe
The announcement described the Opening Ceremony saying, "The unique, publicly accessible ceremony will highlight France's Olympic tradition, with boats carrying delegations for parade of nations."
Tony Estanguet, Paris 2024 President said:
"The eyes of the world – a billion people – are on Paris, in eager anticipation of an unforgettable Olympic Opening Ceremony. The entire city has been turned into a vast Olympic stadium. The Seine represents the track, and the quays the spectators' stands."
The event will honor the city, with some of the most iconic and historic Paris landmarks represented, with everything from the Notre Dame cathedral, to the Louvre and Eiffel Tower being mixed into the event.
The Paris 2024 Olympics has aims to include as many people as possible and the Opening Ceremony is in line with that goal.
"Organizing the Opening Ceremony along the Seine, the emblematic river in the very heart of the city, perfectly aligns with Paris 2024's ambition to reinvent the Games model by opening up participation to as many people as possible," said IOC President Thomas Bach. "This Ceremony will be an exceptional experience for all the athletes taking part, but also, and above all, for the people of Paris, for France and for the whole world."
The delegations will be carried by 162 boats as the head down the six-kilometer route that is expected to go from Pont d'Austerlitz to Trocadero.
The spectacle is no easy feat, as Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo noted.
"A truly spectacular Opening Ceremony will mean the eyes of the world are on the city, proudly promoting the values of Olympism. The ambitious project, which is the result of intensive collaboration between hundreds of players, will bring joy to Parisians, Île-de-France residents and tourists alike," she said.
