The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

An Athletic Armada by Olympic torchlight, and other world firsts… 

Date for your diary: 26 July 2024, The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. Be there, or watch it on your TV – just make sure you don’t miss it. Because this and the closing ceremony are the biggest events watched by almost everyone on the planet.

The Opening Ceremony is a big deal, and it’s all about the athletes witnessing the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron with a rather important giant matchstick, AKA the Olympic Torch. 

This means that it all kicked off months ago when the Olympic flame was lit in Olympia, presided over by a posse of Vestal Virgins. Symbolic Vestal Virgins, of course – this is 2024, after all. And weren’t Vestal Virgins mooching around temples in Ancient Rome, not Greece? Of course they were, but we’re not going to let that spoil the party – the ceremonies are an explosion of fancy dress and musical theatre, after all, and we love them for it! 

The flame has been burning brightly on top of the Olympic torch since it was kindled on the 16th April, and will reach Paris after a 68-day touring schedule carried by a total of 10,000 torch bearers. Finally, on 26 July, the flame will arrive at its home for the duration of the games – the Olympic Cauldron in the Tuileries Garden, right in front of the Louvre Museum. 

An Olympic Effort from Creative Team Olympic 

Paris 2024’s Artistic Director and master of ceremonies is Thomas Jolly, and he’s leading a creative team of leading lights including Victor le Masne as the Ceremonies’ Music Director, Maud Le Pladec as Dance and Choreography Director for the Opening Ceremony, and Daphné Bürki as Styling and Costume Director for all four of the Paris 2024 Ceremonies. 

Here’s the official theme ‘Parade’, composed by Victor, which debuted when the flame arrived on French soil, but for all the rest, you’re going to have to wait for the July 26th unveiling.  

What we can tell you, however, is this… 

The ceremony will take place outside the stadium. If you can cast your mind back to all those Olympic ceremonies of yore, you’ll find that this has never happened before. Instead, Paris 2024’s opening extravaganza will wind its way along the River Seine, parading a flotilla of athletes through the heart of the city. Each nation will have its own boat, with all 160 being fully equipped with cameras so viewers and spectators can get up close and personal.  

The parade route is six kilometres long, which will allow a huge number of spectators to take part in the occasion at no cost whatsoever. This, of course, makes it the most inclusive Olympic Games to date, and will also make it the largest Opening Ceremony in history. We’d like to give a heartfelt round of applause to the person responsible for this brainwave, and fingers crossed it’ll become a welcome tradition. 

The parade starts at the Austerlitz Bridge, and from there the magical atmosphere will spread through the streets and across the city with the help of 80 giant screens and speaker systems. The flotilla will then make its way around the two islands at the centre of the city, before passing several official Games venues, and coming to rest at the Pont d’Iéna. Here, the athletes will disembark before the finale at the Trocadéro. 

After all that, your average citizen would be ready to go home… but it ain’t gonna happen. These athletes are laser focused on Gold, and will be giving it all they’ve got for the following 16 days. We do have a sneaking suspicion, however, that they’ll be partying hard at the Closing Ceremony on 11 August, when Paris 2024 will deliver an impressive finale of surprises. 

Have you got Olympic-class event ideas that could outshine this mega extravaganza? 

If so, we need YOU! Our brilliant team at mustard XP have job opportunities and creative professionals coming into our offices that will make your heart sing. This can only mean one thing – you need to call us now! The number to dial is 0117 929 6060.