River Seine setting for 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, says Macron

People pose in front of the Olympics rings installed in front of the Paris City Hall during the “Olympics Day” organized by the the “Comite National Olympique et Sportif Francais ” (CNOSF) to celebrate the upcoming of the 2024 Paris Olympics Games, in Paris on June 23, 2018. (AFP)

TOKYO, Japan  – The Paris 2024 Olympics will feature a unique opening ceremony with the city’s River Seine the scene for the curtain-raising spectacular, said French President Emmanuel Macron.

In an interview with the French sports daily L’Equipe to appear Sunday, Macron revealed that barges on the Seine and its quays would provide the urban setting for the ceremony on July 26, 2024.

“We want it to be a ceremony of the people, open to all and unique in terms of the experience it will provide. Something that makes sense to the French people and conveys a message to the rest of the world,” the 43-year-old leader said in Tokyo on the sidelines of the delayed 2020 Games.

“We want something unique and revolutionary,” he said.

The Seine and its banks have undergone a radical transformation over the past five years after decades of serving as a city-centre highway.

Most riverside roads now serve as pedestrian routes.

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