The 2024 Paris Olympic Opening Ceremony will be the first of its kind -- held outside along the Seine River with boats carrying athletes along famous landmarks, climaxing with the Eiffel Tower.
The plan calls for 160 boats to traverse nearly four miles in front of an estimated half million spectators (mostly in free-to-watch areas), about 10 times the normal Opening Ceremony crowd in a stadium.
For months, officials including Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet and French president Emmanuel Macron have talked about including the heart of the city in the Opening Ceremony, such as floating the Parade of Nations through the Seine.
Typically, Opening and Closing Ceremonies are held strictly in the main Olympic stadium used for track and field, which Stade de France will be in 2024. In the initial bid plan years ago, the Stade de France was the ceremonies venue.
Organizers said they haven’t decided where the Olympic cauldron will be located.
In 2016, Rio switched it up and used the historic Maracanã for Opening and Closing Ceremonies (and soccer finals) and a newer Olympic Stadium for track and field.
In 2017, Los Angeles Olympic bid organizers said they planned to use both the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium for ceremonies. That was back when LA was bidding for the 2024 Olympics and before a historic double award of the 2024 Games to Paris and 2028 Games to Los Angeles.
Paris Olympic competition venues include Roland Garros for tennis, Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower for beach volleyball and the Palace of Versailles for equestrian and modern pentathlon.
Organizers announced earlier this year that a mass participation marathon will be held in relation to the Olympics on the Olympic marathon route.
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Here's the video teaser (English version) for the 2024 Paris Olympic Opening Ceremony on the Seine. pic.twitter.com/yzXfRnrHS0
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) December 13, 2021