Paris will officially kick off its Olympics extravaganza with an unprecedented opening ceremony on the river Seine on Friday.
For the first time, the Games’ opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium.
Instead, around 85 boats will carry nearly 7,000 athletes on a 6km floating parade on the Seine, at the heart of Paris.
Departing from the Austerlitz bridge, they will sail past the Notre-Dame 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.
The ceremony is due to start at 9:30 pm UAE Time and last about three hours and 45 minutes.
Organisers have promised a show like no other.
They say it will be daring and joyful and take advantage of the historic monuments, riverbanks, sky and water “and there won’t be a single riverbank or bridge that won’t be filled with music, dance, or performance.”
Some 80 giant screens along the way will broadcast the show, which will include a floating parade of athletes and artists and is also expected to feature dancers performing from the roof of buildings along the Seine.
The show will be “a large fresco” celebrating Paris, France and the Games and will interweave the parade of athletes, artistic performances and elements of protocol, said Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony.
Details including who will light the Olympic cauldron to mark the start of the Games, or which artists are taking part, have been kept secret.
But Lady Gaga and Celine Dion are among singers who have been spotted in Paris, triggering rumours they could take part in the ceremony.
French media said Franco-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most listened to French female singer in the world, will sing a song by the late Charles Aznavour.
Nakamura was the target of racist abuse online when it was first rumoured that she would take part in the ceremony. She sings in French, with frequent use of slang, her style influenced by West Indies zouk music, mixing in American R’n’B and Afrobeats.
One big unknown is the weather. It is currently forecast to be cloudy, when organisers were hoping there would be a “golden hour” of sunset lighting up buildings midway through the ceremony.
The show will be attended by over 80 heads of state and government and more than 300,000 spectators will watch from the river’s banks, organisers said.
The Paris 2024 committee said some 222,000 people would 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.
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 2,000 private security staff and 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 need to carry permits on a QR code to get anywhere near the riverbanks. 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 are no specific terror threats to the ceremony.
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 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.
