A giant show will be held to celebrate the end of a fortnight of competitions & festivities for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
The Olympic Closing Ceremony will take place on August 11, capping off 17 days of competition and celebration in France. To celebrate these final moments of the Games, Thomas Jolly, a French actor and artistic director of La Piccola Familia theatre company, who is also the artistic director of Paris2024 ceremonies, has created and directed Records, a unique show on a 2,800 m2 stage at the Stade de France.
According to a press statement by the Paris 2024 organisers, a giant show will be held to celebrate the end of a fortnight of competitions and festivities for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
They say that after the immense feat of directing the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, the giant open-air spectacle in the heart of Paris, Jolly will take over the Stade de France to bring the Olympic Games to a fitting close. Jolly is also in-charge of the Opening Ceremony, slated for July 26.
Tony Estanguet
“On August 11, a new page will be turned with the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games, it will be time to say goodbye to all the Olympic athletes and delegations who have thrilled us, made us dream and brought us to tears during 17 days of amazingly intense competition,” says Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024.
“At the Stade de France, where the greatest stars of athletics and rugby sevens will have competed, the moment will be solemn and emotional, but it will also be a time for celebration! Finally, the pressure will be off, and everyone will be able to take full advantage of the absolutely exceptional show that is being planned under the direction of Jolly, with the help of all the teams working across the four Paris 2024 ceremonies,” he adds.
“Innovative, surprising and brilliant, these ceremonies already promise to be very powerful, just like Records, which has everything it takes to make a mark on the history of Closing Ceremonies,” Estanguet says.
The organisers say that for the event, Stade de France will be transformed into a gigantic concert hall, featuring over 100 performers, acrobats, dancers and circus artists, this visual spectacle will bear the signature of artistic director Jolly.
They say that festivities will also include an original soundtrack, new interpretations, musical performances and the participation of world-renowned singers. Part of the show will take place in the air, while the giant sets, costumes and spectacular lighting effects will take spectators on a journey through time, both past and future.
Traditional highlights of the Closing Ceremony such as the flags of the nations, the athletes’ parade and the handover of the Olympic flag to the Los Angeles 2028 Organising Committee will all provide memorable moments, adds the statement.
According to the organisers Jolly wanted to share a strong message through this immersive collective journey, into the past, origins of the Games, but also into the future, and ultimately to a timeless universe. The ambition is to celebrate in suspended time, with conscience, and with the idea that together we can make a difference.
Thomas Jolly
“On August 11, the Olympic Games will be over and the Olympic flame will be extinguished. That moment will remind us just how precious these Olympic Games are a unique monument to a shared experience and therefore fragile,” says Jolly.
“The Olympic Games already disappeared after antiquity and were re-founded in France by Pierre De Coubertin. We want to celebrate, but consciously. This moment of celebration will also be an opportunity to reflect on the importance of the Olympic Games in our society. So I have designed a show in which the Olympic Games disappear once again, and someone comes along and founds them,” he adds.
“It is a very visual, very choreographic, very acrobatic show with an operatic dimension to give a great visual fresco and say goodbye to athletes from all over the world. Together, let us make this evening a memorable and conscious celebration, honouring the past and embracing the future,” Jolly adds.
60 pc of tickets sold or allocated
With 38 days to go, ticket sales for the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony are in full swing, with organisers saying that 60 pc of tickets already sold or allocated.
Category E is already sold out, with 5,000 tickets at EUR 45 sold, but there are still opportunities to experience a unique show at the Stade de France. New tickets have gone on sale from July 4 in categories A, B, C and D and priced at EUR 250 or more.
