THE Opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics to be hosted in Paris next summer, on July 26, it will be unprecedented and innovative: for the first time in the history of the Games it will take place outside the stadium and specifically along it Seine

Essentially, it is a three-hour riverside parade, six kilometers long, with performances by several hundred artists, which will showcase the history, culture and even the gastronomy of France.

yes, the parade will pass in front of her Notre Dame

The rehearsals for this novel procedure in Olympic annals, they will start next Marchas stated by the artistic director of the top event, Thomas Joly, speaking to the Agence France-Presse, as responsible for the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies.

Together with Thierry Reboul, Director of Ceremonies for ‘Paris 2024’, they detail the plan for the Opening Ceremony

Question: How are the preparations going?

Thomas Zolli: “The first project, that of the construction, with initiators of a history in these six kilometers was approved in July 2023. The idea went through a feasibility study. The Seine does not have the same depth from one place to another, the wind does not blow the same way across the various bridges, and it must not disturb the natural habitats of the biodiversity. This study was completed at the end of 2023. Dream and reality today are harmoniously combined by 90%. I have 10% of my project left to readjust. Many sets are already under construction. Contact has been made with the artists and rehearsals will be able to start from March.”

Q: How will the rehearsals take place?

Thomas Zolli: “The show cannot be done with on-site rehearsals. Rehearsals will take place both indoors, in very large hangars, and at a naval base, for everything that will be done with water as a material. These will all be piecemeal rehearsals. In the last few days, we will be able to line them up so that everyone can discover the final result on the night of the ceremony.”

Q: What about boats?

Thierry Reboul: “We have about a hundred ships for the expeditions, which is almost 200. They board before the Pont d’Austerlitz bridge, in a three kilometer boarding zone. It’s a huge process. They will follow each other, at distances calculated to the nearest second.

We have already done a certain number of tests and will do them again with half the fleet, so that the skippers of the boats are well versed in the route.”

Q: What will the ceremony be like?

Thomas Joli: “About ten paintings will be spread from the Austerlitz bridge to the Trocadéro. They will be traversed by delegations of athletes and hosted by artists from all disciplines, such as dance, music, visual arts, etc. Normally, a ceremony is 45 minutes of artistic performance, two hours of parade and one hour of protocol elements. I wanted to connect these three main common axes, to integrate the elements of the protocol in the artistic part and the parade in the artistic. And all of this to make up a big, homogeneous celebration.”

Q: What is the philosophy of the ceremony?

Thomas Zolli: “The whole world is watching Paris. In television, there are between 1 and 2 billion viewers. The time has come to tell ourselves: what are we? Where are we going; The story we wrote tells what France is – present along the river with all its monuments – and about what France will be. I want every viewer to feel represented. France is also Edith Piaf, but also (also famous rapper) Gilles, the singer, Nathalie Dessai. It’s many musical genres. France is cheese but also pretzels and couscous. It has great diversity. The idea is to reiterate that France is a story that is constantly being enriched.”

Q: In case of bad weather or a safety issue, is there a plan B?

Thierry Reboul: “There are many so-called contingency plans. We list everything that could happen and what answers we will be able to give.”

Thomas Zolli: “We have a bunch of potential plans. But the site of the ceremony will remain the Seine. And it will remain open to the general public of the city.”

Q: The ceremony will pass in front of Notre-Dame de Paris. How do you integrate it into the process?

Thomas Zolli: “It’s a celebratory night, we can’t do without a tribute to this new spire that will rise in the Parisian sky.”