The world's best Paralympic athletes will parade down Paris' Champs-Elysées boulevard and into the city's biggest square, Place de la Concorde, as the opening ceremony will be held outside a traditional stadium setting for the first time, Games organizers announced Thursday.
Set between the Tuileries Gardens, the Seine River and the majestic Crillon Hotel, the square will be converted into the arena for the new Olympic sport of breakdancing, 3-on-3 basketball, BMX cycling and skateboarding, coming back to the program after its Olympic debut at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.
Only 17 days after the July 26-Aug. 11 Paris Olympics, the Place de la Concorde will then take center stage for the unprecedented opening ceremony of the Aug. 28-Sept. 8 Paralympics.
International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons predicted a ceremony that will be "a thing of beauty, and a once-in-a-lifetime event that will go down in all our histories."
"This festival of inclusion all begins with the truly unique experience of thousands of Paralympians parading down the world's most famous avenue. What an amazing thrill it's going to be to enter the Champs-Elysées and then make the journey down to Place de la Concorde, all the while being framed by the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre," Parsons said in a statement.
Organizers said space will be made at the ceremony for 65,000 people, equivalent to the crowd at a large Olympic stadium. About 30,000 of those in attendance will be able to watch the ceremony for free.
French Paralympic and Sports Committee president Marie-Amélie Le Fur said holding the ceremony that features the 4,400 Paralympians outside of a stadium "is a revolution."
"Going down the Champs-Elysées to Place de la Concorde and sharing this with nearly 65,000 people, in the heart of the capital, will be a historic moment," she said. "It's unheard of."
The venue choice is part of a massive effort by Paris organizers to take the Olympics and Paralympics out of traditional sports venues and turn the French capital into a giant playground for sport during the Games, with the Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais and other landmarks used as competition venues.
The concept -- encapsulated in the official slogan, "Games Wide Open" -- is not without risk. The use of city sites as venues poses security, transport and logistical challenges.
The Olympic opening ceremony will also break with tradition, taking to the waters of the Seine instead of being held in a stadium.
Boats will parade the 10,500 athletes on the waterway from east to west. Organizers are planning for at least 600,000 spectators, most of them ticketless and watching for free, and are billing it as the largest opening ceremony in Olympic history.
The opening and closing ceremonies for both the Olympics and Paralympics will be directed by prize-winning French theater director Thomas Joly.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.