All 70,000 public tickets for a parade of Olympic athletes in Paris have sold out in under two hours after becoming available online.
The tickets to the ‘Parade of Champions’ were free, but ticket registration was required to attend to ensure that crowd levels remain safe and manageable. The parade spectators are limited to 30,000 people, and the place de l’Etoile event to 40,000.
Tickets became available online at 16:00 yesterday (September 11), and were ‘first come, first serve’. They were limited to four per transaction.
Just over one hour after the tickets went online, all 70,000 were taken. The website now displays the message: “We have been victims of our own success. All the tickets for the Parade of Champions have been reserved.”
People who successfully registered will receive their digital ‘e-ticket’ by Saturday morning at the latest. Tickets will have a unique QR code that must be scanned for access to the events.
Parade and concert
The layout of access, facilities, and stage at place de l’Etoile.Parade.paris2024.org
The ‘Parade des Champions’ event will celebrate the end of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and take place on September 14. Some of the most successful French athletes will parade through the capital between 16:00 and 18:00, from the Champs-Élysées to the place de l’Etoile.
The athletes will then be recognised by President Emmanuel Macron during a special ceremony, before a two-hour concert kicks off from 21:00, finishing with a DJ set until midnight.
Athletes expected to take part include judo star and gold medallist Teddy Riner, record-breaking gold medallist Léon Marchand, and rugby star Antoine Dupont.
The ‘official’ musical theme of Paris 2024, ‘Parade’, will also be played during the event, and there will be food and drink trucks serving the public, to create a festival spirit.
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The Charles de Gaulle - Étoile metro station will be closed (RER A, lines 1, 2 and 6) on the day.
‘A celebration worthy of the Games’
“The Paris 2024 Games will forever hold a special place in our memories,” said President Macron, in a press release about the event.
“Thanks to our artists, our civil servants, our elected representatives, our volunteers and our athletes, France has lived up to the magic of the Games and its universal vocation.
“On Saturday, the Republic will salute the exceptional performances of our athletes at a ceremony to decorate Olympic and Paralympic medallists. This afternoon will be just like our Games in Paris: popular, warm, full of sharing, and the French spirit.”
“The Paris 2024 Games were exceptional and a tremendous success,” said David Lappartient, president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee. “Our athletes in the unified French team have achieved particularly brilliant results….we wanted to organise a celebration worthy of these Games.”
“Rather than saying goodbye to each other…we're going to bring the Paris 2024 adventure to a close just as beautifully as we started it: by celebrating in the heart of the city, on the most beautiful avenue in the world, with the incredible public of supporters who have been creating a crazy atmosphere all summer long!”, said Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024.
