Where to Enjoy Free Olympics Events & Celebrations

The Paris 2024 Games: For the People

When Paris made its winning bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, it wanted them to be like no Olympics before them: open to the public. “For the first time in the history of the Games, the host city wanted to organize an event for everybody, where the Olympic excitement is felt both inside and outside competition venues, in the heart of the city, in each Parisian arrondissement.” Some examples?

• An Opening Ceremony on the Seine River and not in a closed stadium (with over 200k free tickets for spots on the upper quays distributed to locals through community groups)
• The “Marathon Pour Tous” Marathon and 10k run open to public participants on the night of August 10^th, between the men’s and women’s Olympic marathon events, along the same route (the 24,024 participants for each race won their bibb’s in a drawing after completing a series of easy running challenges through the Marathon Pour Tous app in 2023….I got a spot in the 10k!)
• The Olympic Flame torch relay through France with 10,000 torchbearers that included famous athletes and sports personalities alongside a diversity of everyday French people committed to their local communities or involved in meaningful community projects. In Paris, for example, one of the torchbearers was the Sri Lankan-born, French-trained baker who won the 2024 Best Baguette in Paris competition.
• And, of course, the free fan zones throughout the city where anyone — with or without Games tickets — can watch the events on big screens, participate in fun sports initiations and demonstrations, enjoy concerts and cultural performances, join in the dance parties, and take advantage of some of the Olympics atmosphere all summer long. Here are the two large ones in central Paris and the smaller neighborhood ones that might be closer to you:

La Terrasse des Jeux at Hôtel de Ville

La Terrasse des Jeux
Hôtel de Ville (4th)
July 20th until September 8th

This fan zone in front of City Hall will have two giant screens with live broadcasts of competitions; a main stage with sports, artistic and cultural performances; six sports and para-sports areas for demonstrations; a climbing wall; activities for kids; and an elevated deck for lounging in the sun (at least a third of the terrace will be shaded) and food stands to enjoy drinks or snacks with views of Notre Dame. They promise the food offerings will be local, and at least 50% organic, with gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options (and no single-use plastics). There will be 16 fountains to refill your water bottles, too.

Some noteworthy events:

•  Olympic Marathon events will start here (men’s August 10^th, women’s on August 11^th, and the “Marathon Pour Tous” the evening of the 10^th)
• A dance party celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris on August 24^th
• The arrival of the Paralympic Flames on August 28^th

To see the full schedule of concerts, theatre, dance performances, sports initiations, and all of the events that you can participate in (hint: come in your workout gear and bring a water bottle), scroll down to the bottom of the French page of La Terrasse (unfortunately, it’s not on the English version, so use auto-translate if needed), where you’ll have several pages, searchable by date or tag, showing events with exact times they take place: https://www.paris.fr/evenements/la-terrasse-des-jeux-60884

Champions Park at Trocadéro

Champions Park
Jardins du Trocadéro, 16th
July 29^th to August 10^th

This 13,000-seat arena at the foot of Trocadéro will be the place where fans and recently-medaled athletes will be celebrating together right across from the Eiffel Tower, so if you’re hoping to see your favorite Olympic winner up close, this is the place to be! Each day two members of the public will win the opportunity to enter the “athletes’ tunnel”.

Like Hôtel de Ville’s La Terrasse, there will be big screens showing the competitions live, food and drink stands, and a stage with live entertainment including music concerts, fashion shows, dance performances, and even a Voguing competition. This quote on the official site is hilarious: “There will also be […] mime and freestyle soccer to set the perfect mood.” Mime? I may have to see that for myself, lol!

Neighborhood Fan Zones “Fête les Jeux”

In addition to those two huge venues, there are also smaller neighborhood fan zones open from July 26th through the first week of September, usually in public parks or local town halls (mairies), with big screens showing the opening and closing ceremonies, and the major Olympic and Paralympic events.

“The City of Paris’ “Paris fête les Jeux” (Paris celebrates the Games) program aims to provide Parisians and visitors with a packed program of events, guaranteeing a truly festive and inclusive experience that makes the Games open to everybody.”

These will likely be less crowded, with mostly locals and families, so check them out if you want to avoid the crowds at Trocadéro and Hôtel de Ville (click on the name of the arrondissement for the full program, in French):

5^th arrondissement
Arènes de Lutèce – 8 Rue de Navarre
Lots of events in the old Roman arena near Jardin des Plantes, including fencing demonstrations, dance performances, open-air cinema, taekwondo initiations, folk music concerts, etc.

6^th arrondissement
Eglise St-Sulpice – Place Saint-Sulpice
Human pyramid demonstrations, urban dance initiation, guided neighborhood tours (in French), puppet theatre, open-air film screenings,yoga sessions, etc.

8^th arrondissement
Parc Monceau – 35 Blvd Courcelles
The bucolic Parc Monceau will have a very family-focused schedule of over 250 events throughout the summer, but also some interesting events for everyone else: music concerts, skateboard and Korean Sabre initiation sessions, yoga, rugby, Tai chi, break dancing, a big salsa dance party on August 14^th, open-air cinema (Chariots of Fire on August 17^th), and paralympic sports initiations. Four-page schedule of all events here (in French). Here are two photos taken July 17th while they’re setting up:

9^th arrondissement
Mairie of the 9^th – 6 rue Drouot
Workshops, exhibitions, broadcasts of the events on the big screen, plays, concerts…

10^th arrondissement
Mairie of the 10^th – 72 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin
Events in the 10^th will be at the local Town Hall and along the Canal St-Martin, including sports demos and initiations, theatre, dance, public balls, open-air cinema, workshops, walks, and broadcasts of competitions on a giant screen.

11th arrondissement
Mairie of the 11th – 12 Place Léon Blum
This neighborhood has five pages of events throughout the summer, including workshops, exhibitions, DJ dance parties, broadcasts of the events on the big screen, theatre, nature tours of the neighborhood, queer gymnastics performance, concerts, and even a country dance party on August 24th…

12^th arrondissement
Jardin de Reuilly – Paul-Pernin -15 rue Albinoni
There are multiple locations around the 12^th for the events, but most of them are in and around the big Reuilly park (which is at the end of the Promenade Plantée), such as the live concerts and big screen with the sports matches…

13^th arrondissement
Parc de Choisy – 128 avenue de Choisy
I’m a bit biased because this is my local park, but I think they have one of the best programs, with performances by the local circus cooperative, a Bal Populaire dance party the 27^th July, K-pop concerts, gymnastics and roller dance initiations, African dance, open-air cinema, table tennis tournaments, and of course you can check out the neighborhood’s awesome street art murals…

14^th arrondissement
Centre Sportif Elisabeth – 3 avenue de la Porte d’Orléans
Plays, concerts, workshops, sports initiations…

15th arrondissement
Mairie of the 15th – 31 rue Peclet
Broadcast of opening and closing ceremonies and the daily events on the big screen, concerts, food trucks, table tennis, mini golf course, parkour sessions, chess and pétanque, food trucks and historic photo exhibit inside and in front of the town hall (and Square Chérioux)…

16^th arrondissement
Parc Sainte-Périne – 41 rue Mirabeau
Across the river from the Parc André Citroën, this park in the chic Auteuil district will host outdoor wrestling, Taekwondo, urban and contemporary dances, field hockey, mini golf, table tennis, handball, yoga, and something called chessboxing (which combines chess and boxing!) French Polynesia is celebrated on July 29^th and August 3^rd…

17^th arrondissement
Parc Clichy Batignolles Martin Luther King – 147 rue Cardinet
This is one of my favorite city parks, combining the classic Martin Luther King garden and the modern Parc Clichy Batignolles. As it’s also the favorite of many other Parisians, it will likely be quite crowded. There will be workshops, exhibitions, big screen broadcasts of the events, circus shows, concerts, initiations into woman’s soccer and boxing, and dance performances…