Paris 2024

The cauldron is back, and Paris is preparing to relive a bit of the Games

— Published June 22, 2025

It's back! Nine months later, the cauldron took flight again in the Tuileries Gardens on Saturday evening. One of the most beautiful symbols of Paris 2024, it attracted more than 250.000 visitors last summer. The public can now admire this 2.0 version—still 100% electric, but with a reinforced structure to ensure better watertightness—free and open every day, from 10 a.m. to 21:30 p.m., until September 14. It's the kickoff to a summer dedicated to Games celebrations in the capital.

The Seine, 100 years later

The XXL Paris 2024 poster hanging in Pierre Rabadan's office sets the scene: the City of Paris doesn't intend to turn the page on the Olympic and Paralympic Games anytime soon. The deputy mayor in charge of sport even less so. His eyes shine as he sits down to review the summer festivities. Particularly on the opening of swimming in the Seine on July 5. A direct legacy of the Games, perhaps the most symbolic ", he estimates, while Parisians have not bathed there for 100 years.

Three swimming sites, all accessible free of charge, are planned: at Bras Marie, Bras de Grenelle and Quai de Bercy. We did all the necessary work to improve water quality before the Games, to be ready for the Games, with a deadline and a requirement for results for 2024. Without the Games, we might never have gotten there. We were told we were doing all this for the athletes, but no: it was just a step. The Games are a unique acceleration tool to create conditions that will benefit the population. » The river will be at the heart of the city's summer entertainment program, aptly titled Paris en Seine.

River parade, Tour de France and blind football

The weekend of July 26 and 27 promises to be the highlight of this summer for those most nostalgic for the Games. On Saturday, the anniversary of the opening ceremony, a river parade will take place on the Seine. No Celine Dion or Lady Gaga this time, but Thomas Bach and Kirsty Coventry will also attend the unveiling of the statues of the ten remarkable women highlighted during the ceremony. "They have been reinforced and will be installed on rue de la Chapelle, near the adidas Arena.", specifies Pierre Rabadan. The president and her predecessor are also expected at the Tuileries that same evening for the launching of the cauldron.

The exact outline of the Champions Monument, where the names of all Olympic and Paralympic medalists will appear, is also expected to be unveiled on the day. "We're working with artists to come up with proposals. We've given them the setting, the location, and the story we want to tell. The idea is for it to become an attractive venue, reminiscent of those who put on the Paris Games." The monument is expected to be installed by the first quarter of 2026 at the latest. On Sunday, the Tour de France will return to Paris—the race did not stop in the capital last year—and will, in turn, pay a nod to the Games by passing through Montmartre three times, a powerful marker of Paris 2024. The promise of a wonderful popular celebration and, perhaps, another memorable collective intoxication. As a bonus, the Olympic rings will be projected onto the Eiffel Tower during these two days.

The forecourt of the Town Hall will also host several beach volleyball courts, which will give way to blind football on August 28, for the anniversary of the opening of the Paralympic Games. The Eiffel Tower stadium's schedule is being moved to the front of City Hall., summarizes Rabadan. The Games ended with the French blind football team winning a gold medal, and we're happy to be able to promote this image once again. There will be dedicated events with associations and, I hope, also players from the French team. "The celebrations will continue until September." We cannot recreate the Games, confides the elected official, but we can recreate what was perhaps the greatest success of the Paris Games: moments of exchange, unity, sharing, by highlighting sporting practice and culture. »