Paris 2024 welcomes the world in ground-breaking Opening Ceremony on the Seine

Paris has witnessed numerous memorable moments in history – some of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 venues are a testament to that – but the sight of 85 boats carrying 6,800 athletes along the Seine towards the sparkling Eiffel Tower and the ascent of the Olympic flame into the sky on a cauldron attached to a hot air balloon is not one the French capital is likely to forget.

The City of Lights became a sports stadium on the night of the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony on Friday (26 July), the River Seine – its track, the quays – spectator stands, and the historic landmarks along the way – silent witnesses to the vibrant celebration full of flags, feathers and raindrops.

By taking the ceremony outside its traditional stadium setting for the first time in Olympic Games history, Paris 2024 invited everyone to take part in the four-hour extravaganza, created by artistic director Thomas Jolly.

Athletes jumped on boat decks in pouring rain, spectators lined the quays and bridges, ballet dancers performed pirouettes on rooftops and Parisians stepped out onto their balconies to cheer on delegations from 205 National Olympic Committees (NOC).

The river parade and artistic performances weaved through the heart of Paris towards the Trocadero where the world came together to hear the magic words from French President Emmanuel Macron: "I declare the Paris Olympic Games open".

"Some may say, we in the Olympic world, we are dreamers. But we are not the only ones," said International Olympic Commitee President Thomas Bach. "And our dream is coming true tonight: a reality for everyone to see. Olympians from all around the globe, showing us what greatness we humans are capable of. So I invite everybody: dream with us. Like the Olympic athletes, be inspired with the joy that only sport can give us. Let us celebrate this Olympic spirit of living life in peace, as the one and only humankind, united in all our diversity."

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Six kilometres, 85 boats: The first Parade of Nations on a river

Emerging from behind a row of pink feathered fans and dressed fit for a cabaret, Lady Gaga set the tone for the evening to come.

“Bonsoir! Bienvenue à Paris," the singer-songwriter shouted after her performance of the iconic French revue song, “Mon truc en plume”, to start off an unfrorgettable celebration. And the athletes were ready to heed the call.

Starting at Pont d’Austerlitz, the Parade of Nations flotilla began its six-kilometres journey west along the Seine, dipping under bridges and passing world-renown landmarks, such as the Esplanade des Invalides, the Place de la Concorde, the Notre-Dame and the Grand Palais, before arriving at the Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower.

Mixed in among these landmarks were the venues that will host the athletes for competition over the next 16 days and, for some, become the stage of their biggest triumphs.

But for the moment, competition was not forefront of their minds. Unity was the mood of the night as athletes from different countries celebrated on shared boats – Canada and the People’s Republic of China blending into a sea of red on the same deck, athletes from Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique and Myanmar bridging the distance of three continents to come together on one boat.

Even surfers joined in the festivities via video link from Tahiti, dressed in ceremony wear and holding traditional wooden surfboards.

"Dear athletes, we can’t wait to live it all with you. The joy, the tears, and the love you will put in each moment. Thank you for being here. You made it! Bravo!I know what it means. I know what it took. I know the path you have followed to be here. Paris will give back to you. It’s the City of Love… and for the next 16 days, it is your city," said Tony Estanguet, triple Olympic champion and President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee. "Welcome home. Welcome to Paris. Welcome to your moment in history. Live it. Love it and carry us with you! The world is on your side."

Opera, rooftops, cannons and croissants: An ecclectic journey through French history and culture

As the athletes travelled along the river through central Paris, history came alive around them.

Split into 12 artistic tableaux and featuring 2,000 artists, the amazing show invited spectators to the most iconic sites of Paris and brought them to life.

The past and present came together seamlessly, as in the Liberty chapter where an operatic scene from Les Miserables and a firing of cannons by the Conciergerie flowed smoothly into a celebration of Parisian lovers in all their diversity.

Beyond the Pont Royal Bridge, the Seine became an art museum as portrait masterpieces from the Louvre Museum half-rose out of the water to greet the athletes while a masked torchbearer travelled back in time through the real museum's hallway to witness the theft of the iconic Mona Lisa.

A distinct French feel infused the whole ceremony. Some moments were a nod to touristic trinkets such as berets and croissants, while others saluted high-culture opera and ballet.

The performance of "La Marseillaise" was a particularly poignant moment. Mezzo-soprano Axelle Saint-Cirel sang the French national anthem standing on the rooftop of the Grand Palais, draped in a Dior-made dress that resembled the host country's flag while statues of 10 historical female figures rose up next to the National Assembly – a seat of power that was previously decorated only with statues of male changemakers.

Reflecting that change, Paris 2024 will see full gender parity on the field of play for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games.

A party for all: Welcoming Parisians and the world to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

From solemn to jubilant, the Opening Ceremony next switched focus to a bold fashion show where a table top at a costume banquet served as the runway. The party was still on, with more athlete boats coming and spectators as enthusiastic as ever despite the falling rain.

The jubilant spectators along the Seine were a stark contrast to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in which Covid restrictions prevented people from attending the Opening Ceremony. But if Tokyo 2020 were a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, Paris 2024 showed the party that awaits as the reward at the end of the long road.

About 320,000 spectators were able to enjoy the show live from the Seine quays – not counting those looking out of their living room windows that faced the Seine – in addition to the hundreds of millions watching around the world.

The loudest cheer, of course, was reserved for the French boat.

"I hope that it's going to give the French team a great boost from the start and that we're going to bring back lots of medals and, above all, most of the athletes are going to be marked, are going to have memories for life," said French flagbearer, seven-time Olympian Melina Robert-Michon. "Also all the people who are there, the volunteers, the supporters, the children who are going to watch this, I hope that the whole country is going to have stars in their eyes and will say, 'Yes, I was lucky enough to take part in this'."

The historic significance of the moment was further amplified as images chronicling the past 100 years of sport were shown on screens, tracking the progress humanity has made in the century since the last time Paris hosted the Olympic Games, in 1924.

As the images flashed on the screens across the city, a horsewoman in a silver suit carried the flag of the International Olympic Committee as if floating along the Seine atop a metal horse.

Her journey finished at the Trocadero where, now riding a live horse, the non-commissioned officer of the National Gendarmerie Floriane Issert presented the Olympic Flag to start the protocol section of the Opening Ceremony. A group of Games volunteers carried the national flags in after her.

The Olympic Cauldron is lit

As the athletes made their way to Trocadero, the Olympic flame was also making progress to its ultimate destination - Jardin des Tuileries.

It began the night’s journey with a trip to the French metro in the hands of French football legend Zinedine Zidane. Handed over to a masked torchbearer, it then flitted across Parisian rooftops and snaked through the empty halls of the Louvre Museum, until making its way back to the World Cup winner who carried the flame into the Trocadero.

After clapping hands with some of the lucky fans in the stands, Zidane passed the flame to Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal who has marked his own spot in French history with a 14-time winning record at Roland Garros.

A boat packed with international sports superstars - Nadal, Serena Williams, Carl Lewis, and Nadia Comaneci - who have 20 Olympic gold medals between them, then carried the flame to the Louvre from where it continued its trip to the Jardin des Tuileries in the company of 18 Olympians and Paralympians.

French sporting heroes Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec picked up the Olympic flame for the walk up to the cauldron - a ring of flames attached to a hot air balloon, a nod to the first hydrogen-powered balloon flight from the same location in 1783.

Once lit, the balloon rose into the sky as the first notes of Edith Piaf's "L'hymne à l'amour" rang out and global singing star Celine Dion emerged on the Eiffel Tower balcony to salute Paris and the Olympic Games in a first live performance since announcing her diagnosis with illness.

A roar of cheers rose from the stands along the Seine, in the Trocadero and around the French capital as Dion, ethereal in a white glittering dress, stretched out her arms from the city's most famous landmark, the Olympic flame soaring ever higher into the night sky.