The opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games will bring together 326,000 spectators on July 26. However, getting a ticket, free or not, seems difficult and it may ultimately not be open to everyone.
The opening ceremony of Paris Olympic Games is one of the most anticipated events of the competition. On Friday July 26, from 7:30 p.m., the 10,500 athletes from the 206 nations represented will compete on a six-kilometer course through Paris. For this grand opening ceremony, the first outside a stadium in the history of the Games, the delegations will descend the Seine from East to West, starting from the Austerlitz bridge to the Trocadéro and the Eiffel Tower.
If the organizing committee announced the time of the ceremony on March 8, we were still waiting for the details of the participation public. The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin announced at the end of February a capacity of 104,000 paid places on the lower quays and 222,000 free places on the upper quays of the Seine, i.e. 326,000 people in total authorized to attend the ceremony. If this is the largest attendance in history for an opening ceremony of the Games, we are far from the 600,000 people announced by the organizers a few months ago.
What are the criteria for obtaining a free ticket?
This March 19, RMC Sport tells us a little more about the allocation of the 222,000 free places. These places should be distributed according to an invitation system by different organizations and partners of the Games. Thus, the Organizing Committee, the State and the City of Paris alone should distribute 139,000 places, with criteria still to be defined. A quota of 74,000 places would be reserved to allow local authorities to distribute invitations.
A portion of the places is also reserved for people impacted by the organization of the Games and the opening ceremony. 25,000 places could go to local residents close to the opening ceremony. Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra also announced that the 3,263 students who will have to vacate their accommodation at the CROUS would be given a place for the opening ceremony. Concerning the conditions for distributing places, each organization having places (the State, local authorities, the City) will be able to define its criteria.
This invitation system raises the question of the promise made during the presentation of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games of an opening ceremony “for all”. For the “Mr. Everyman” in fact, it is difficult to find one’s way and go peacefully to this family ceremony. For paid places, it is also difficult to have affordable prices. Of the packs at exorbitant prices are notably offered with prices ranging from 5000 to 7500 euros. This decision could harm the image of the organization, which wanted, with this ceremony in the heart of the capital, to offer proximity to the city and its inhabitants.