This year's Olympic opening ceremony is not one to miss with Paris making history in more ways than one and opening it up for more viewers and more spectacle.
The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics became a tradition from 1912 implemented at the Stockholm games. The ceremony was introduced as a celebration of the culture of the host county to allow them to share with the world their identity through art, music and festivities. This has become a strict ritual for every Olympic game and today is something millions of people are eager to watch to see how each country designs and executes the ceremony.
How Paris is making history this year
Thomas Jolly, a French theatre director and actor has been overseeing the opening ceremony as artistic director. Jolly has been working on showcasing the French culture and identity in a way which fits the Paris 2024 motto of “Games wide open” creating a parade which is accessible for all.
History is being made in Paris this year as this will be the first opening ceremony to be hosted outside of a stadium. Instead, the athletes will be on boats parading down the River Seine being seen by almost 600,000 people in person.
Using the river as their stage is a way to open up the ceremony to more people and include the city of Paris as around 94 boats with 10,500 athletes cruise down 6km of the river for those to see from the banks and bridges.
The boats are set to have cameras so that those at home are able to view the athletes as well as huge screens being displayed around Paris.
This year Paris Olympics will also be making history as the majority of in person spectators will not be paying. There are 104,000 paid for tickets and 222,000 free tickets situated on the upper banks. This aligns with their motto of, “Games wide Open”.
Performances
The opening ceremony is also known for its performances once the athletes have completed their parade.
Whilst who the performers are has been a well kept secret there have been rumours and predictions of who will be there. Lady Gaga was seen arriving in Paris this week giving people hope of a performance.
Many also believe a performance from Aya Nakamura will be seen as the most listened to French-speaking singer.
There is set to be 3000 dancers, singers and entertainers along the river banks and bridges, Paris 2024 surely won’t disappoint with entertainment coming from every angle.
