By Ingrid Melander
PARIS (Reuters) – Paris will begin its Olympics extravaganza with an unprecedented opening ceremony on the river Seine on July 26th.
Here is what you need to know about the ceremony:
WHAT WILL WE SEE?
Organisers have promised a show like no other.
Unlike for previous Olympics, the Paris 2024 opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium.
Instead, dozens of boats will carry thousands of athletes and performers on a 6km route along the Seine.
Departing from the Austerlitz bridge, the parade will sail by Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral and arrive near the Eiffel Tower, after passing under bridges and gateways, including the Pont des Arts and Pont Neuf, and near many of the French capital’s landmarks.
Organisers have said they will take advantage of the historic monuments, the riverbanks, the sky and water “and there won’t be a single riverbank or bridge that won’t be filled with music, dance, or performance.” The show will have twelve parts, some of which will play on clichés about France.
Athletes and artists will take part in the parade together.
“Everything will be woven together, including the protocol (the speeches, the opening by the head of state, the anthems, etc.),” organisers Thomas Jolly et Damien Gabriac told Le Monde newspaper.
The ceremony is due to start at 7.30 p.m. (1730 GMT) and last about four hours. Organisers said it would reach a climax at around 9.35 pm when the sun sets.
WHO WILL BE THERE?
The show will be attended by over 100 heads of state and government and over 300,000 spectators will watch from the river’s banks, organisers said, adding that there will be some 80 giant screens along the way.
The Paris 2024 committee said there would be about 10,500 athletes and some 222,000 people will get free invites, while 104,000 will have to buy a ticket.
Boats carrying the athletes will be equipped with cameras to allow those watching on TV or their phone to get a close-up view, the committee said.
There have been training sessions, and boats will be stored in a warehouse for a week before the opening ceremony for security reasons.
WHAT ABOUT SECURITY?
Organising the ceremony in the heart of an iconic city like Paris may make for great pictures, but it’s also a major security challenge.
Some 45,000 police will be dispatched to ensure the ceremony’s security, including special intervention forces. Snipers will be deployed on the top of buildings along the route. An anti-drone system will be in place.
Spectators and local residents alike will need to carry permits on a QR code to get anywhere near the riverbanks from July 18th. Cars won’t be allowed into the area, with few exceptions. Nearby metro stations will be closed, as will many of the bridges. No planes will be allowed to fly over Paris – unless they are part of the ceremony.
With wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and security concerns at home, France already has its security alert at its highest level.
Officials have said there were no specific terror threats to the July 26 ceremony.
But should specific concerns arise, there are backup plans, that would either see the ceremony limited to the Trocadero square near the Eiffel tower, or the Stade de France stadium.
The main potential risk would be from a lone attacker, officials have said over the past months, while also flagging potential petty crime and possible protests, from environmental activists, the far right and far left, the pro-Palestinian movement or others.
A man was arrested in May in Saint-Etienne, suspected of planning an attack in the name of Islamic State at the city’s soccer stadium during the Olympics. A right-wing sympathiser was arrested in eastern France in July on suspicion of plotting attacks to take place during the Olympics.
PAST SUMMER OLYMPICS’ OPENING CEREMONIES
Tokyo 2020: The opening ceremony was overshadowed by the Covid pandemic. Postponed by a year due to the coronavirus, the Games were held largely without spectators.
Rio 2016: A financially constrained Brazil had little choice but to put on a more low-key show, with minimal technology and a heavy dependence on the vast talent of Brazil and its Carnival party traditions.
London 2012: The 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth put aside royal reserve in a video where she stepped onto a helicopter with James Bond actor Daniel Craig to be carried aloft from Buckingham Palace as part of a dizzying ceremony designed to highlight the grandeur and eccentricities of the nation.
Beijing 2008: About one billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s population, watched the opening ceremony, which involved 10,000 performers, 2008 drummers and a dramatic sky-walking finale.
(Reporting by Ingrid Melander, Juliette Jabkhiro, additional reporting by Kurt Hall, Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)
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