2024 Olympic Games: 400,000 spectators for the opening ceremony on the Seine?

Scheduled for July 26, 2024, the opening ceremony of the next Olympic Games in Paris should have 400,000 spectators. In any case, this is the figure planned by the government, according to RMC radio. The Ministry of the Interior must open a ticket office “at the beginning of 2024”, the details of which will be known at the beginning of January at the latest, and which will offer 300,000 free tickets.

These 300,000 places will concern the high platforms. The remaining 100,000 places, which will be paid for, will be located on the banks of the Seine. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, must still validate the total figure during a defense council next November, as recalled by the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra a few days ago. In October 2022, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, had mentioned the possibility of having 600,000 spectators. But he had not ruled out “a reduction of 200,000 people” with a view to “better management of transport flows”.

At the microphone of BFM TV, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra assured last week that the government was working on “adjustment variables” between now and the deadline, but said she wanted to “keep the principle of this opening ceremony” on the Seine. The ambassador for the 2024 Olympics, David Douillet, said he was in favor of “a plan B”, mainly for security reasons. “The security conditions will be there,” replied the president of the Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet.