PARIS 2024 ORGANISERS HAVE BEEN PUTTING PLANS IN PLACE TO MAKE NEXT YEAR’S OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES TRULY STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD IN TERMS OF FAN EXPERIENCE.
From its groundbreaking sustainability goals to creating a Games that is fully inclusive – Parisians are preparing a real party by not only creating a stunning opening ceremony but ensuring there is post-event legacy.
The fan events surrounding the Games are part of this mindset, which is reflected in the four months of festivities leading up to and during the world’s largest multi-sport event.
From the beginning of the Olympic Torch Relay in Marseille, in the south of France, through to the opening of the Champions Park in the Trocadéro, which is expected to pull in 150,000 fans, Paris 2024 are aiming for the Games to spark engagement throughout France, and beyond.
Some 400 French towns will be visited during the Olympic Torch Relay, and there will be up to 200 celebration venues free and open to all during the Games, across the country. Organisers have also dubbed these locations across the country as ‘Terre de Jeu’ communities, which will be accessible to all, while venues have been named ‘Club 2024’.
This is all part of Paris 2024’s ‘Games Wide Open’ ethos, which aims to spread the magic of the event across France.
SPREADING MAGIC
The first Club 2024 will open on July 14 next year at l’Hôtel de Ville, with the second Club 2024 at Georges-Valbon Park in la Courneuve opening on July 24. The Olympic Games Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony will then take place on July 26 on the River Seine, which will be shown across Club 2024 locations through France. The following day, Club France will open in la Villette. Some 700,000 guests are excepted to visit Club France during the Games.
The Opening Ceremony will take place away from a stadium for a first time in the Games’ history, with athletes and delegations taking a boat trip along the Seine, waved on by hundreds of thousands of fans from the banks.
“At Paris 2024, our programme of celebrations has been designed to bring our vision to life: ‘Games Wide Open’,” says Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet. “Our aim is to enable all the regions, all the people of France and all fans throughout the world to share in this global festival for the people.”
There will be further Club 24 locations in Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Paris, Saint-Etienne and Marseille.
THE CHAMPIONS PARK
The Champions Park (pictured) will be set up in the Trocadéro, at the foot of the iconic Eiffel Tower. Here, medal winners will be invited to mingle with thousands of fans and celebrate their victories. This space will be free of charge and open to everyone.
There will be celebrations of the previous day’s medal-winners and live screenings of the day’s finals in the open-air arena. An artistic and cultural programme will complement the athlete celebrations.
The concept was introduced in 2019 and the Paris 2024 organising committee collaborated with its own Athletes’ Commission and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission to tailor the experience for athletes.
“The Champions Park is a totally new concept at the Olympic Summer Games, created to make the athletes’ experience an unforgettable one,” said Martin Fourcade, Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission chair.
This venue will be a collaboration between the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) and the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF), and will be a celebration of France and medals won by French athletes.
CELEBRATING HOME SUCCESS
Club France will be located in the popular Parisian neighbourhood, La Vilette Park. Some 900 athletes will be celebrated here from July 27 until August 11 for the Olympics and again from August 29 until September 8 for the Paralympics.
The Seine-Saint-Denis Commune celebration venue, located in 410 hectares of green space in Georges-Valbon State Park, will boast several areas to watch the Games on giant screens, attend concerts, practice sporting activities, view the starts of the Para Marathon and take place in workshops.
The Paris Olympic Games will take place between Friday July 26 and Sunday August 11, 2024, with the closing ceremony set for the Stade de France, followed by the Paralympic Games between August 28 and September 8.
Two iconic locations in the form of the Champs-Élysées and the Place de la Concorde will host the Paralympic opening ceremony before the Stade de France once again provides the stage for the closing ceremony, bringing the curtain down on a highly anticipated summer of sport in Paris.
