Paris – The French capital plans to open the 2024 Olympic ceremony with a 6km parade of athletes in boats along the River Seine. As part of the ceremony, ambitious stunts such as BMX stunt riders leaping over bridges are set to take place. The plans come as the host city hopes to create the most ‘audacious and accessible’ opening ceremony in history.
While the event will still be ticketed, the aim is that much more of the city will be able to feel involved than if it had been hosted in a stadium. Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, says: ‘It will be a unique combination of a sport and cultural moment, with the entire city turned into a vast Olympic stadium.’
By approaching the event in this way, the Olympic organisers are using this historic event to simultaneously celebrate the culture of the city. As we explore in Equilibrium Cities, urban planners are being urged to re-engage citizens in city centres by offering enticing cultural events that are available to all.
Strategic Opportunity
With many city centres having lost relevance throughout the great remote of the pandemic, consider how you can invite artists or cultural venues to take up space in tired urban areas