Paris Olympics opening ceremony to celebrate immigration by mocking cliched France

Organisers want to push positive image of multiculturalism at Friday's extravaganza on Seine

Visitors take photos next to the Olympic and Paralympic rings near Plaza de la Bastilla before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 15. All Photos unless credited: Getty Images

Workers prepare the venue of the Olympic Aquatics Centre ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 16

The Stade de France will host rugby and athletics in Saint-Denis

Tourists shop at the the Bouquinistes, booksellers of used and antiquarian books and rare vintage postcards on July 14

Police stand on the Champs-Elysees before the Paris Olympic Games on July 13

Visitors shop in the Paris 2024 megastore on the Champs-Elysees before the Olympic Games on July 13

An industrial climber works on the facade of the Stade de France before the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games begin, on July 13. Reuters

Olympic rings are displayed in front of Bercy Arena. Reuters

A general view of Champ de Mars, under construction for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Reuters

Tourists take a picture with the Olympic rings displayed on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower on June 28. Reuters

The Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games opening ceremony on July 26 is expected to celebrate the country's diversity while poking fun at Parisian stereotypes in a country mired in political disputes.

Set to take place over 6km on the Seine river instead of a closed stadium, the high-profile event is expected to bring a breath of fresh air to an otherwise polarised France.

"I expect positive aspects of immigration to be highlighted alongside the values of multiculturalism," sports historian Yvan Gastaut told The National.

"We should expect a cultural and scenic translation of this vision."

The hope is that for a moment, the world will be dazzled by the show and forget France's current political infighting after a surprise snap election this month.

"The narrative will probably be a form of resistance to the withdrawal into itself that France has known for the past few years," said Mr Gastaut.

The team that has worked on designing the show have given hints about what inspired them but its exact details are to remain shrouded in mystery until the last minute.

Artistic director Thomas Jolly told Le Monde this week that the ceremony will include 12 sets that will feature Paris's most famous sites and the values they carry.

"France, for example, is in the eyes of the world a promise of freedom – a promise it always breaks but to which it remains attached," Mr Jolly said.

His colleague, writer Leila Slimani, said: "We wanted a very generous story. There had to be joy, emulation, movement, excitement and sparkle."

Some ideas that were later discarded give an idea of how the river will be included in the show.

There was talk at first of statues of famous men coming to life before jumping into the Seine and swimming in synchronised breast stroke.

Paris has long been a favourite backdrop for the TV industry, with the most recent example being the Netflix hit Emily in Paris.

Next week's ceremony will poke fun at stereotypes of a romantic city populated by excessively self-confident, baguette-eating locals.

"We played with those stereotypes and the American view of France, but without mocking them," said Mr Jolly.

Ms Slimani, who grew up in Morocco, studied in France and now lives in Portugal, said: "We don't want any seriousness in the ceremony. There is a lot of humour in the show. At least, I hope so."

France, which has a large population from former colonies in North Africa, has a complicated relationship with multiculturalism.

Immigrants to the highly centralised state are expected to adapt to the French vision of secularism.

The most striking example of this was the 2004 Muslim veil ban in schools, which has been extended to French female athletes in the Olympic Games.

The far-right political party Rassemblement National, which obtained its best score in a recent European election, routinely accuses immigrants of not integrating into society.

France is now mired in political paralysis after a snap election called by French President Emmanuel Macron to "clarify the situation" after the far-right surge.

The so-called cordon sanitaire, in which leftists and centrists stepped down to block the far-right, caused it to gain less seats than expected, although they have nearly doubled since the 2017 election.

Long gone is the excitement brought on by the "black blanc beur" days of the 1998 World Cup that was won by the French national team and its famous player of Algerian origin, Zinedine Zidane.

But organisers of next week's ceremony are likely to want to rekindle similar fraternal feelings as more than 10,000 athletes sail down the Seine past sites such as Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower.

"It will probably no longer about defending immigration but celebrating harmony in a diverse country," Mr Gastaut said.

The biggest source of inspiration for the ceremony is the July 14, 1989, parade down the Champs Elysee to mark 200 years since the French Revolution.

Organised by publicist Jean-Paul Goude, it was described at the time as a "great parade of the planet's tribes".

One million people watched the event that included 8,000 participants in a succession of shows, including a steam train and a remembrance of the Tiananmen square massacre in China.

The French national hymn, La Marseillaise, was sung by American opera singer Jessye Norman.

Its optimism inspired historian Patrick Boucheron, who is also part of the team preparing the opening ceremony.

"The parade defied national stereotypes and wasn't afraid to advocate for a 'global mix' with an optimism that we have lost today," said Mr Boucheron.

"This disenchantment was in itself a source of inspiration for me."