More than 200 years after the Place de la Concorde had experienced the shocks of the French Revolution, the colors of the Republic once again illuminated the historic square – in the form of flags, dresses, curtains and clouds of smoke in the sky. Paris had begun a new revolution.

From discord to harmony: the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games highlighted the paradoxes of modern society, in which people with disabilities celebrate success on the sporting field but encounter numerous obstacles in their daily lives that are not adapted to them, that they admire but also pity, that stare at them but also do not see them.

Born from the spirit of Thomas Jollythe same artistic director as the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games, asked difficult questions and called society to action, while celebrating the sport and achievements of the Paralympics.

The mood was sometimes festive, sometimes somber, but the President of the Organising Committee of Paris 2024 Tony Estanguet However, he warned of a possible revolution on the Place de la Concorde two centuries ago, when Louis XVI was executed on the same square.

“Welcome to the land of love and the land of revolution. Don’t worry: tonight there will be no storming of the Bastille, no guillotine. Because tonight the most beautiful revolution of all begins: the Paralympic Revolution” said Estanguet to the cheers of the packed makeshift stands at one of France’s most historic sites and symbols of change, once called Place Louis XV, then renamed Place de la Revolution and finally Place de la Concorde.

“Tonight, you, the athletes, are the revolutionaries,” he continued. “Like our ancestors with their Phrygia caps, you have verve and audacity. Like all revolutionaries around the world, you have courage and determination. Like them, you are fighting for a cause greater than yourself.”