The Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics will take place on Friday, July 26, and it if nothing else, it’ll be incredibly scenic. The Opening Ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC with an encore broadcast at 7:30 p.m. ET.
This year, the parade of athletes is set to take place on a river.
That’s right. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games, the Opening Ceremony won’t take place in a stadium. It’ll happen on the Seine River, right in the heart of Paris.
This may come as a surprise to anyone who’s been following updates on the Seine’s cleanliness — or lack thereof — which have included threats of protest and criticism from a U.S. swimmer. But Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo took a swim in the river to prove to the world it’s ready for the Olympics.
A fleet of boats paraded down the Seine river in Paris in a test run for the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. pic.twitter.com/E3G1rip7Fh
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) June 18, 2024
For the Opening Ceremony, each national delegation will have its own boat on the Seine, equipped with cameras to give spectators up-close views of the 10,500 athletes competing in Paris. The boats will travel almost four miles through the centre of Paris and come to an end in front of the Trocadéro for the final shows.
