The final preparations for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on July 26 are underway, with a fleet of a hundred boats set to participate. However, adjustments may be necessary due to the high flow of the Seine, which remains abnormally high for the season. Regional prefect Marc Guillaume stated that if the flow remains elevated, up to half a dozen boats might need to be replaced with those from a 'reserve fleet' to ensure compatibility with the river's conditions.
Rehearsals for the ceremony will take place from Monday, July 22, to Thursday, July 25, involving the entire fleet. During these sessions, the boats will not be decorated, and no artists will be present. The director of ceremonies at the organizing committee, Thierry Reboul, mentioned that the ceremony might undergo 'an adaptation' if the flow rate is between 300 and 500 cubic meters per second, which could involve removing the tallest boats to avoid issues with bridge clearances in Paris.
To manage the high water levels, the prefect of Haute-Marne has authorized water releases to increase upstream storage capacities. This move aims to reconstitute a minimum storage capacity in the event of new floods and to align with the filling objectives for this time of year. The released water is expected to reduce the flow to 410 m3/s by the end of the week and further down to 300 m3/s next week, just in time for the open water events planned in the river.
Despite the high flow, the health status of the Seine has improved, meeting bathing standards on certain days at the end of June. This is a positive development for the events scheduled to take place in the river.
In a related development, bars and restaurants on the Îles de la Cité and Saint-Louis in Paris will have to remain closed on July 26, the day of the opening ceremony. The police headquarters announced this measure as part of the anti-terrorism security perimeter, which will be enforced from July 18. Access to these islands will be restricted to individuals with a 'games pass' featuring a QR Code, following an administrative investigation.
Some 326,000 spectators are expected to attend the opening ceremony on the Seine, with 104,000 paid seats on the lower quays and 222,000 free seats on the upper quays. The event will feature delegations of athletes parading on several boats, starting from the Austerlitz bridge and proceeding to the Trocadéro.
