Picture Credit: X

Picture Credit: X

The 2024 edition of the Paris Olympics is set to begin on Friday, July 26, and with each day passing, fans and sports enthusiasts are unable to contain their excitement. The 15-day-long sporting extravaganza will be preceded by a grand opening ceremony, which will be grand, spectacular and historic in its own way. It will be the first time that the opening ceremony will break tradition by taking place outside the main athletics stadium. 

While the specific details about the ceremony have been kept under wraps, the officials have provided hints about the same. The ceremony will have more than 6,000 athletes travelling along a six-kilometer section of the Seine River in 85 barges and boats. The parade will start from the Austerlitz Bridge in the east and will end at the Eiffel Tower. 

The ceremony will be enjoyed by more than 6,00,000 people in person. The slogan of the Olympics 2024 is ‘Games Wide Open’ and the organisers have been trying to make the event accessible to as many people as possible. Around 2,22,000 free tickets will be available for spectators to enjoy the parade from the upper banks of the Seine. Along with it, more than 1,04,000 paid tickets will be available for the lower quays. 

A French theatre director and actor, Thomas Jolly is overseeing the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies as the artistic director. Earlier while speaking to the media, Jolly said that he aims to showcase the contrasting cultures of France be that opera or rap. 

The ceremonies have been choreographed by Maud Le Pladec, and he promised that every bridge along the parade route will have dancers on it. A total of 3,000 artists and 400 dancers are set to take part in the ceremonies, and their costumes have been designed by Daphne Burki.