The last rehearsal bringing together all the boats of the opening ceremony, which was to take place on June 24, was cancelled due to the Seine being too full. Since then, the Parisian shipowners transporting the athletes’ delegations on July 26 have been waiting for a new date. It is not for tomorrow.
According to our information, the next technical tests will take place from July 20 and not before unless there is a last-minute change of schedule. “Several tests in the full fleet will take place between July 20 and 26,” Thierry Reboul, executive director of the Paris 2024 ceremonies, told us. For these run-throughs timed as close as possible to the global event, the hundred or so yachts, vedettes, bateau-mouches, barges, etc. on stage on July 26 in front of 326,000 spectators and more than a billion television viewers will be gathered. There will be no visible artistic component in order to maintain the surprise effect.
“We are confident about the weather developments”
Until now, the boats had tested the parade in half groups between the Austerlitz and Iéna bridges, a 6 km course. The first half of the fleet had sailed last July. The second half sailed, in waves and in single file, almost three weeks ago, on June 17, after several postponements due to heavy rainfall.
Currently, even though it has gone down, the level and flow of the river remain “still a little high” according to a shipowner, far from those expected on July 26. “But the forecasts are good, we are very confident about the weather developments”, positive Thierry Reboul, the conductor of the unprecedented parade.
Between July 20 and 26, all the boats will be gathered upstream of the Pont d’Austerlitz, the starting point of the opening ceremony. They will be parked in a very high-security perimeter and will be subject to mine-clearing operations. But they will not remain permanently at the quayside because of these dress rehearsals. During this period, all navigation outside the Olympic framework will be stopped on the Seine.
Setting dates with the river companies is not a long, quiet river, firstly because the weather conditions have not been very favourable for months, then because it represents, for many of them, a loss of financial income. Planning rehearsals from 20 July is ultimately the most practical since this gathering of boats had been planned for a long time and no economic activity was possible for them during this period. “Clearly, it suits us for business,” sighs a cruise operator.
