Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: “complicated” traffic during the opening ceremony

La cérémonie d'ouverture des Jeux Paralympiques de Paris 2024 aura lieu le mercredi 28 août. MAXPPP

Traffic in central Paris in particular will be “complicated” on August 28, the day of the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games which will take place at Place de la Concorde, police prefect Laurent Nuñez warned on Friday.

During a press conference to present the security measures for the Paralympic Games (August 28 – September 8) in the presence of the President of the Cojo Tony Estanguet, the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and Pierre Rabadan, responsible for sports and the Olympic Games at the city hall, Mr. Nuñez explained that part of the anti-terrorist security perimeter closed to traffic would be activated from 7:00 a.m., and the whole area at 2:00 p.m.

More than 50,000 people expected at the ceremony

50,000 people are expected for this ceremony: 35,000 spectators in the stands at Place de la Concorde, including nearly 5,000 athletes and 170 Olympic delegations, and 15,000 free places open to the public at the bottom of the Champs-Élysées, on both sides of the avenue.

Concerning the free-access boxes, the police prefect specified that they would be open to the public at 5:00 p.m. “We expect a craze. “The gauges are restrictive”, warned Laurent Nuñez, recommending to come as soon as it opens.

Searches and pat-downs will be carried out by police at the entry points (three in total), he said. In order to watch the ceremony on giant screens, the Paris City Hall will open 17 zones set up in various locations in the capital.

Very large crowd expected at the Tuileries Garden

The anti-terrorist protection perimeter will be extended during the opening ceremony at the Tuileries Garden, which will host the cauldron, which will rise into the Parisian sky in the evening. The police headquarters is expecting a very large crowd at this site. The public will have to submit to searches or pat-downs to get there.

4,400 athletes will compete over 11 days of competition and 549 events at 20 venues.

Up to 25,000 police officers and gendarmes will be mobilized, as well as 10,000 agents private security and 8,000 soldiers from Operation Sentinelle, during these Paralympic Games.