The number of spectators who will be able to attend the river parade of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games along the Seine has been set at 326,000 people, including 222,000 with free tickets, announced Tuesday March 5 , Gérald Darmanin.
Before the Senate Law Committee, the Minister of the Interior specified that 104,000 paying spectators would be accommodated on the low platforms and on certain bridges, 222,000 on the high platforms. He estimated that around “200,000” people will follow the ceremony from buildings overlooking the Seine.
While it had initially considered setting up a ticket office accessible to all, the executive finally decided to entrust the distribution of free tickets to institutional partners in Ile-de-France (State, host cities, Ile-de-France region, Paris 2024).
" Trusted third party "
“These trusted third parties”, as Mr. Darmanin called them, will offer the people they have chosen to then register on the website used to acquire paid places. They will then receive a QR code. In practice, for example, a “Thierry de Béziers” will not be able to acquire a free place unless he knows a “trusted third party” from the Ile-de-France region.
Gérald Darmanin clarified before the senators that the operation to distribute free tickets would be led by the interministerial delegate to the Olympic Games. All these places will have to be distributed at the end of May, he added.
The minister argued that the reduction in the capacity of the opening ceremony – initially envisaged at 600,000 spectators – was explained in particular by the need to provide “3 m2 per person” and the decision of Emmanuel Macron not to move the boxes from the second-hand booksellers on the quays of the Seine.
