French president Emmanuel Macron declared the Paralympic Games open on Wednesday after a glorious opening ceremony in which competitors were celebrated by volunteers and spectators on a calm summer night. Paris Paralympics 2024: News | Medal Tally | India Schedule Held at the Champs Elysees and the Place de la Concorde, the opening ceremony was the first Paralympics curtain-raiser to be held outside a stadium. As with the Paris Olympics, security was tight, with some 15,000 law enforcement officers on site, but there was a light summer feeling to the evening in the French capital.
“Dear athletes, welcome to the country of love and revolution. Rest assured, tonight, no Storming of the Bastille, no guillotine, because tonight the most beautiful revolution starts — the Paralympic revolution,” Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said in his speech. “It’s a sweet revolution that will change all of us deeply.
” The live show started at the foot of the obelisk in Place de la Concorde with Canadian musician, songwriter, and producer Chilly Gonzales on the piano. Artists with disabilities and impairments screamed together and ticked down the countdown to the Games opening. French singer Christine and the Queens delivered a pop rendition of Edith Piaf’s ‘Je ne regrette rien’.
Theme of the opening ceremony The opening ceremony, directed by Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman featured 500 artists and was named “Paradox, from discord to concord”, in a thinly-veiled .