PARIS.- A rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which was to take place at the end of May on the Seine, was postponed because the river’s flow was too high, the prefecture of the Paris region confirmed on Wednesday.
The opening ceremony of the Games is scheduled for July 26 along six kilometers of the Seine River as it passes through Paris, in an unprecedented format that represents an organizational challenge.
A first test was carried out on July 17, 2023, between the Austerlitz bridge and the Iena bridge, with about forty boats.
Another rehearsal was to have taken place on April 8, but was then postponed due to the flooding of the river in a very rainy spring in the Paris region. The rehearsal scheduled for May 27 was also postponed, the regional prefecture told AFP.
They don’t set off alarms in Paris:
“It will take place when weather conditions permit,” the organizers responded to AFP.
The ceremony rehearsal does not affect the artistic ‘show’, which remains secret. The objective of the rehearsal is to make any adjustments between the boats for the parade of the different delegations and the boats that follow the procession, as well as those of the OBS (Olympic Broadcasting System) cameras, the television broadcaster of the Olympic Games.
Although Paris is recognized as one of the main cities in Europe and the entire world, it has received a lot of criticism in the preparations over the last few months. Some of the structures have taken longer than usual to be ready and the ability of the authorities to provide the necessary security during the celebration of the historic event has been questioned.
Source: With information from AFP
