The year 2024 showed up at midnight, but the show started at least three hours earlier in the City of Lights. Paris, in collaboration with France 2, had concocted a great show for revelers, residents and visitors, distributed between several stages, even in the air. A flaming sphere rose in the Parisian night in front of the Arc de Triomphe, a painting reminiscent of the years 1924 and 2024, the two vintages in which Paris hosted, or will host, the Olympic Games.
An hour before the transition to 2024, Richard and his wife descended on the Champs-Élysées with four golden balloons representing the 4 numbers of the new year. Many spectators take photos of them. The couple of Spanish origin have lived in Paris for 17 years. “But it had been 10 years since we last came to celebrate the New Year here, we wanted to enjoy the atmosphere again,” explains Richard. We were promised a very nice fireworks display to usher in the new year, that of the Olympics, I can’t wait to see that. For the moment, the atmosphere is very good-natured despite the crowds, I just hope it’s not going to rain. »
Richard doesn’t think he’s saying it so well, a light rain begins to fall on the Champs-Élysées while the public sings “I Will Survive” like a giant karaoke.
More than 800,000 people
Twenty minutes before the start of the new year, the Arc was illuminated with lights and spectacular images, always with the Games as a recurring theme. Discus throwers, a podium, the flags of the world and the portrait of Zinédine Zidane were notably exhibited on the monument.
From the start of the evening, the crowd gathered on the Champs-Élysées to make the most of the festivities. The artists followed one another, around the Place de l’Etoile or at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Among other stars, Chimène Badi, Grand Corps Malade, Patrick Bruel, Gazo Vitaa and Slimane, who performed “Mon amour”, France’s candidate song for Eurovision 2024.
If the singers ignited the public, not all the activities met with the same success. On the large stage installed in front of the Arc de Triomphe, while Chimène Badi rekindled Johnny Hallyday’s fire, the public was invited to accompany him during a sort of giant karaoke. But the lyrics were displayed in a jerky manner on the giant screens, which did not help spectators who were less familiar with the singer who died in 2017.
Sometimes frustration
Morritz, in his twenties, a German student in Paris, attended the fireworks display on the Arc de Triomphe for the second year in a row. He does not hide a little disappointment by showing images of last year’s. “It was grand and this year I wasn’t so impressed. I saw some symbols of the Olympic Games like the medals during the mapping, the symbol was,” confides the young man.
Positioned near the Roosevelt roundabout, Morritz said he did not hear the music enough and had difficulty observing the mapping because of the sprawling crowds on Paris Avenue. A feeling shared by several spectators positioned at a distance from the Arc de Triomphe. “But I still had a good time, the atmosphere here is always extraordinary. And then the references to the Olympic Games, like the medals or the homage to the 1924 Paris Games, I liked that,” adds Morritz.
From the police headquarters, Gérald Darmanin counted more than 800,000 people on the Champs-Élysées at 11 p.m. He reported an evening without any major clashes, despite 69 arrests in France. “Things are going as calmly as possible,” assured the Minister of the Interior. Here are the highlights of this festive evening in Paris.
The crowd quickly took over the most beautiful avenue in the world
New Year’s Eve, a life-size test before the Olympic Games
Giant screens have been installed along the Champs-Élysées
The performance and sphere of the Deus Ex Machina company
Some revelers found the right numbers on the Champs
Lights and countdown were projected on the Arc de Triomphe
The Paris Olympics obviously in the spotlight
Smiles on the most beautiful avenue in the world
A brief pro-Palestine demonstration
Shortly after the fireworks finale, several dozen young pro-Palestine demonstrators flocked to the Champs-Élysées, carrying Palestinian flags. High on a bus shelter, then in a circle around a huge flag, the small group chanted slogans to defend the Palestinian people of Gaza, bombarded by the Israeli army since the Hamas attacks of October 7. “Free Palestine”; “Israel a murderer,” the demonstrators chanted.
Just a few minutes after the start of this wild gathering, a police charge quickly dispersed the demonstrators. At least one person was arrested. The situation has since returned to calm, spectators are heading down the avenue in their thousands to reach public transport. The stations closed during the festivities in the Champs-Élysées sector reopened at 12:30 a.m.