With great fanfare in front of a select few, the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (Cojo) announced this Monday morning the various free places of celebration, scattered over the territory on the occasion of the Paris Games in a year. Tony Estanguet, surrounded in particular by the socialist mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse (LR), the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and David Lappartient, president of the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF), promised “four months of celebration”.
After festivities in the 400 cities of France where the Olympic flame will pass, from May 8 to July 26, fan zones will be installed. This will be the case in almost all of Paris, except the 7th arrondissement, said Anne Hidalgo. In Seine-Saint-Denis, the Georges Valbon park will host all kinds of festivities, such as concerts, as will the Seine-Saint-Denis canal. Other places in Ile-de-France have been chosen, in particular “in the orphan departments of the Games”, explained Valérie Pécresse for her part.
La Villette, ” The place to be »
For the Parc de La Villette, in the heart of the 19th arrondissement, on the banks of the Ourcq canal, 50,000 people a day are expected for a total of 700,000, Olympic and Paralympic Games combined. Under the Grande Halle de la Villette, “the French medalists, their families and the public will be welcomed in The place to beClub France, from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.,” joked David Lappartient, who is counting on 600 athletes present for the Olympics and 300 for the Paralympics in Paris.
Giant screens will be installed in the heart of the park with approximately 300 hours of live broadcast and sports activities and demonstrations will be organized there. “We made the choice of a single French club, the only fan-zone totally dedicated to the French team”, insisted the president of the CNOSF.
Another place of celebration in Paris, the Place du Trocadéro, where the Parc des Champions will be located. “We expect 15,000 people every evening at the Trocadéro from 5 p.m. to celebrate all the medalists,” added David Lappartient, who is betting on “a thousand athletes welcomed to this Cchampions park “. Medal-winning athletes will be able to come and “celebrate” their charms each late afternoon, one day after their competition. It will be open for ten days and will also broadcast “the big finals” of the Games. “It’s about bringing together all the medal-winning athletes in the same place”, explained Brice Guyart, former fencing champion and member of the Cojo, with “at the peak more than 300 medal-winning athletes per day”.