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Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony
HOPSCOTCH EVENT and its partner LEAP CREATIVE STUDIO had the honor of being chosen by Paris 2024 to ensure the executive production of the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympic Games.
This ceremony, designed by Thomas Jolly and his teams and directed by Romain Pisenem, took place on September 8, 2024, at the Stade de France.
As the last of the four ceremonies of these Games, once again atypical in its form, this ceremony concluded the Paris 2024 summer with a grand moment of festive communion.
RESONATE FOR EVERYONE
The aim of Paris 2024 was to create an unprecedented lineup of artists capable of speaking to everyone, from ages 7 to 99…
From the electronic music legend Jean-Michel Jarre, to the talented Polo&Pan, and the unmissable Amadou and Maryam… it was a historic back-to-back of 24 artists, each with very different worlds, who offered a unique gift: performing iconic tracks to resonate with all audiences.
CREATING THE SPECTACULAR
We have set up a breathtaking stage setup, featuring a monumental 125-meter-long stage running through the stadium, 4 satellite stages, light shows, lasers, and pyrotechnics, transforming the stadium into one of the largest clubs in the world.
GATHER
This scenography allowed the audience to gather as close as possible to the artists.
Gather, above all, to create a chemistry among everyone: Paralympic athletes, accompanying persons, honored volunteers, able-bodied and disabled artists…
AN EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCTION AND LOGISTICS
To prepare all of this, it required organizing, planning, and producing under unprecedented conditions…
Firstly, much like the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, we set up this ceremony in a stadium that was active until midnight the night before.
This demanded from the teams engineering and planning to interface with the Stadium’s operations, light encoding both virtually and on-site during the nights leading up to the big day, and sound adjustments during the day between competition sessions.
We faced an unprecedented logistical challenge by simultaneously hosting nearly 5,000 Paralympic athletes on a site that was not adapted. These para-athletes had extremely varied disabilities: over 1,000 wheelchairs, athletes with prosthetics, visually impaired individuals, and those with invisible disabilities…
We had to adapt to all disabilities to offer a comfortable experience and minimize the immobilization time of the para-athletes as much as possible.
For the occasion, temporary arrangements were made, such as more than 500 meters of drop-off platforms near the stadium, and an enhanced setup for managing restrooms (also to be installed on the night of September 8th). The scenography was, of course, designed to allow the athletes to parade. More than 2,000 volunteers were mobilized to support the participants throughout their experience.
PARIS IS A CELEBRATION
Paris 2024 was a celebration all summer long,
Paris 2024 had the bold vision to open the Games wide,
Paris 2024 succeeded in its challenge to break down the barriers between the Olympic and Paralympic worlds,
and this closing ceremony, under the concept Paris is a celebration, was the perfect synthesis of it all.
