2024 Olympic opening ceremony to take place on river for the first time

The 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony will take place at 0:30 on Saturday, July 27, Hanoi time, on the Seine River, the heart of Paris. There will be 160 boats, of which 94 will carry athletes, parading along 6 km of the river. Performers and crew members will be on the remaining boats, while spectators will be arranged to sit on both sides of the river.

The procession will start from the Austerlitz Bridge, to the Iena Bridge, where the large Trocadero Square is located. The final ceremonies for the opening of the Olympic Games, such as the lighting of the Olympic torch, will take place at the Trocadero Square. The ceremony could last up to four hours.

The organizers will issue 326,000 tickets for the opening ceremony, for seats on both banks of the Seine, of which 104,000 will be paid. However, those without tickets will also be able to watch the performances from other locations, with the organizers prioritizing the largest audience possible. They will also set up 80 large screens for the audience to follow the program.

The Olympic torch was lit in Olympia on April 16, spending 11 days in Greece before moving to France. Ten thousand people of all ages and genders carried the torch during its 68-day journey in France. The identity of the last person to light the torch at the Trocadero cauldron has not yet been revealed.

More than a billion people will watch the opening ceremony live from around the world, so the performances are expected to be spectacular. The opening ceremony's artistic director, Thomas Jolly, said he would be fired if he revealed details of the program, but said the opening ceremony would be like a giant ballet, divided into 12 acts, with thousands of dancers performing on bridges over the Seine.

"The Olympic opening ceremony has never been held outside a stadium," said Jolly. "So there is no template to follow, it's all about creativity. I can only say that the performances will be meaningful to the performers."

Traditionally, the first hosts of the ancient Olympics, Greece, will march first, with basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo as flag bearer. Hosts France will march last.

The 2024 Paris Olympics will be the 33rd Summer Olympics, taking place from July 26 to August 11, with some events starting on July 24. There will be 10,714 athletes representing 206 delegations competing in 32 events, with 329 events. Vietnam has 16 athletes participating, competing in 19 events, with the goal of winning at least one medal.