A grand reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris is planned for Saturday December 7 and Sunday December 8, 2024. All the highlights.
It’s a global event that’s coming this weekend. Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, rebuilt more than five years after the 2019 fire, reopens its doors, this Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 7:40 p.m., under the eyes of more than thirty heads and state representatives from around the world, during a ceremony that promises to be grandiose, supervised by a force of 6,000 police officers and gendarmes.
Among the key moments of this opening weekend, the President of the Republic will deliver a speech to dozens of heads of state including Donald Trump, and a major concert is expected at the end of the evening. Celebrities, bishops, crowned heads, politicians, 40,000 people were invited to attend the reopening ceremony within the security perimeter of Notre-Dame de Paris. Discover the program in detail below:
- Saturday December 7 at 7 p.m. : screening of a film on the events since the fire of April 15, 2019 and reading of a poem by Louis Aragon.
- 7:20 p.m. : speech by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron on the square in front of the cathedral, lasting around fifteen minutes.
- 7:40 p.m. : the Archbishop of Paris Monseigneur Laurent Ulrich will knock the doors of the cathedral three times with his crosier, accompanied by the choir of Notre-Dame who will sing Psalm 121 from inside. On the third knock, the doors will open, officially marking the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris. A liturgical ceremony will follow which will awaken the great organ and end with a solemn Te Deum. The President of the Republic as well as the invited heads of state and government, officials, patrons and representatives of all the parishes of Paris will attend this official ceremony of reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris.
- 9:30 p.m.: a major concert will be held in front of the illuminated cathedral square in the presence of international artists such as the singers Vianney, Garou, Clara Luciani, Angélique Kidjole, but also the Chinese pianist Lang Lang and the South African soprano Pretty Yende.
- Sunday December 8 at 10:30 a.m. : an inaugural mass is given by the Archbishop of Paris in the presence of 170 bishops and representatives of the 106 parishes of the diocese of Paris.
- 6:30 p.m. : a first mass open to the public by reservation is celebrated. The cathedral will close its doors at 10 p.m.
Where can you watch the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris on television?
Millions of viewers are invited to follow the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame de Paris on television, because the cathedral and the square “will not be freely accessible” all weekend according to the Paris police headquarters. The reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame de Paris which begins at 7 p.m. will be broadcast live on several French channels (France 2, BFM TV, LCI, etc.) and international channels. The reopening concert which begins at 9:30 p.m. will be broadcast live and hosted by Stéphane Bern on France 2 but also on Radio France. On Sunday, December 8, the inaugural mass at 10:30 a.m. as well as the first mass open to the general public at 6:30 p.m. will be broadcast live on France 2.
All these ceremonies will also be broadcast on giant screens installed in 5 areas of the upper quays of the Seine: place Saint-Michel, rue Dauphine and rue des Grands Augustins, rue Lagrange and rue du Haut Pavé, rue du maître Albert and rue de Bièvres and finally, rue de Pontoise and quai de la Tournelle. Access will be from 3 p.m. Saturday December 7, and these “boxes” will be able to accommodate a maximum capacity of 40,000 people. It is therefore advisable to get there as soon as possible.