The gauge of spectators who will be able to attend the river parade of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games along the Seine, has been set at 326,000 people, including 222,000 with free tickets, announced this Tuesday 5 March Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
Before the Senate Law Committee, the minister specified that 104,000 paying spectators would be welcomed on the low quays and certain bridges, 222,000 on the high quays and he estimated the number of people who will follow the ceremony from buildings overlooking the Seine at around “200,000”. While it had initially considered setting up a ticket office accessible to all, the executive finally decided to entrust the distribution of free tickets to institutional partners in Ile-de-France (State, host cities, Ile de France region, Paris 2024) . “These trusted third parties”, as Gérald Darmanin called them, will offer people they have chosen to then register on the website used to acquire paid tickets. They will then receive a QR code. In practice, for example, a “Thierry de Béziers” will not be able to acquire a free place unless he knows a “trusted third party” from the Ile-de-France region.
Gérald Darmanin clarified before the senators that the operation to distribute free tickets would be led by the interministerial delegate to the Olympic Games. All these places will have to be distributed at the end of May, he added.
A fleet of 180 boats
The minister argued that the reduction in the capacity of the opening ceremony – initially envisaged at 600,000 spectators – was explained in particular by the need to provide “3m2 per person” and the decision of Emmanuel Macron not to move the boxes of the second-hand booksellers on the banks of the Seine.
Before this same Senate Law Committee, the prefect of the Ile-de-France region, Marc Guillaume, detailed that a total of 180 boats, of which 94 will transport the athletes, will be mobilized for the parade on the Seine of the ceremony opening on July 26.
The senior official specified that 86 boats would be allocated to security, technical teams and the troubleshooting of vessels experiencing difficulties. Gérald Darmanin insisted on the fact that “all the delegations had agreed to parade on the Seine”, for this unique format of opening ceremony organized outside a sports venue. For security reasons, the airspace will be closed within a radius of 150 kilometers around Paris from 7 p.m. to midnight.