Paris Olympics opening ceremony 2024: When it starts and how to watch

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, and the Paris 2024 opening ceremony are just a matter of weeks away. The Games will be the first held in Europe since London hosted in 2012.

The opening ceremony marks the official start of the Games, although sporting action actually begins two days before on the Wednesday. Paris is one hour ahead of the UK.

A total of 10,500 athletes, representing 206 countries including Team GB, and approximately 120 heads of states, sovereigns and heads of government are expected to attend. 

Concerns over security threats and crowd control during the event have meant a scaling back of initial grand plans, with President Emmanuel Macron stating that France had prepared alternative plans if the ceremony needs to be altered further.

See the full Paris 2024 schedule here.

The Olympics opening ceremony will take place on Friday, July 26, 2024. This marks the starts of the multi-sport event, running until the closing ceremony on Sunday, August 11, 2024.

The Olympics opening ceremony is expected to begin at 7.30pm in Paris, so 6.30pm GMT.

Eurosport is the main European rights holder for broadcasting the Olympics this year although the BBC will still be covering the big moments across its channels and traditionally the opening ceremony gets shown live on BBC One. With Eurosport and discovery+, you will need a subscription. 

Telegraph Sport will also be running a live blog of both opening and closing ceremonies, so make sure you bookmark this page.

Paris organisers expect a total of one billion television and online viewers for the ceremony, which will be broadcast all over the world. 300,000 spectators are expected to line the route.

Where is the opening ceremony taking place?

For the first time, the opening ceremony will take place outside of a closed stadium, with an open-air parade of 160 boats – 94 of them carrying athletes – sailing six kilometres along the river Seine at the heart of Paris. The parade will come to an end in front of the Trocadero, where the remaining elements of the Olympic protocol and final shows will take place.

During the parade, performers in the ceremony will be with the delegations and passengers on the boats.