The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games promises to be ‘inclusive’ and ‘spectacular’, according to organisers. Around 4,400 athletes will gather on Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysées for a celebration starting at 20:00 on Wednesday 28 August.

With the Obelisk in front and 65,000 spectators in the stands, the Opening Ceremony of the 17th Paralympic Games in Varano will be directed by Thomas Jolly, the same director as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games.

For three hours, the event will emulate the Olympic ceremony by not being held in a stadium. It will not have the Seine as its stage but organisers are convinced that it will still be a spectacular event, both for those attending and for the millions of people who will no doubt watch it on television and social media.

The show will focus on the human body and will bring together ‘history and its paradoxes’ in a place ‘where the heads of our kings were cut off’ but which is the ‘most beautiful avenue in the world’ as Parisians say. The main choreographer will be Alexander Ekman, a world-renowned figure with more than 50 creations who has collaborated with the Paris and Boston Opera Ballet.

Alexander Ekman has confirmed that the ceremony will be a ‘festive and political’ event, in line with Thomas Jolly’s vision, in which dance will serve as a strong message of inclusion. This is the first time the choreographer has worked with disabled dancers. ‘They are extraordinary. They are more capable than many able-bodied people, both mentally and physically,’ said the Swedish dancer and choreographer.

No featured artists have yet been confirmed, but the organising team promises ‘a journey through our musical repertoire’. The music will once again be composed by Victor Le Masne, composer of the Olympic anthem, and the costumes will be by Daphné Bürki. The Olympic cauldron will be lit again and will rise into the Paris sky each night, as it did during the two weeks of the Olympic Games.