After years of planning and input from thousands of organisers, the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony is almost upon us, ready to officially launch this year’s Summer Games on Friday July 26.
It’s set to be a historic show – the first one ever to not be held in a stadium, no less. So, with rumours swirling of appearances by Celine Dion and Lady Gaga, plans for boats full of athletes and a huge city-wide after-party, here is everything you need to know about the opening ceremony.
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What time does the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony start?
The ceremony will begin at 7.30pm CEST (which is 6.30pm BST, 12.30pm CDT and 10.30pm PDT). The Summer Games will officially be launched at 8.24pm CEST, or 20.24 on a 24-hour clock – pretty clever, eh?
Where’s the ceremony being held?
For the first time ever, the ceremony won’t be held in a stadium. Instead, planners have spent months organising a performance on the Seine, with boats for each national delegation. The parade will begin at the Austerlitz Bridge and culminate its 6km-long route in front of the Trocadéro.
Performers
The whole shebang has been kept largely under wraps, but that hasn’t stopped rumours swirling about who is expected to perform at the opening ceremony. And now, it’s been officially confirmed that Celine Dion, Lady Gaga and Aya Nakamura – the most listened-to French singer worldwide – will perform at the opening ceremony. Stay tuned for updates on the line-up.
Torch relay
The Olympic torch relay will be part of the opening ceremony, with stars including Snoop Dogg and Salma Hayek confirmed as final torch bearers. Read our full guide to the Olympic torch relay route here.
How long will the opening ceremony last?
It will last three and a half hours, from 7.30pm to 11pm CEST. But the night doesn’t have to end there – bars across Paris have been granted a special permit to stay open all night to celebrate the launch of the competition. You can read more about that here.
Schedule
A setlist for the opening ceremony is yet to be announced, so if you’re keen to not miss any of the exciting roster of performances this evening, it’d be best to tune in from the beginning of the ceremony, which kicks off at 7.30pm CEST. What we do know is the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron (which marks the official start of the summer games) will take place around 11pm CEST.
How to watch
If you’re watching in France, France Télévision, the national broadcaster, is the channel to hop to. In the UK (and if you’ve got a TV licence), the BBC is showing Olympics coverage and in the US, NBC is set to air at least nine hours of coverage a day.
The Olympics also has its own streaming channel for those watching online. Read our full guide on how to watch the Olympics here.
How much were tickets?
The tickets were being sold in six categories, A, B, C, D, E+ and E, with prices ranging from €90-€2,700.
Want to get your hands on some last-minute tickets? Well, earlier this week we reported that 4,000 tickets are still available for the opening ceremony. Many of those are likely to have sold by now, and while there are still tickets available, they start from an eye-watering €1,800. You can browse what’s available here.
French Train travel disruption
After a series of coordinated arson attacks were reported across France’s high speed railway network this morning, it’s thought that 800,000 passengers are affected by severe delays and cancellations. To read more about how that might affect your travel, you can do so in our guide right here.
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