Olympism and the 80th anniversary of the Liberation will be celebrated at the July 14 parade, in a reduced version organized on Avenue Foch due to the Olympic Games and not on the traditional Champs-Elysées, the military governor of Paris said on Monday .
One of the objectives of the 2024 edition of the July 14 parade, “revised and adapted in an exceptional way”, is to “highlight the links between the armies and the values of Olympism”, twelve days before the ceremony. he opening in the French capital, with the final picture being a relay on horseback with the Olympic flame, explained General Christophe Abad. This is the second time in history that the July 14 parade will take place on Avenue Foch. The first time dates back to 1918, but the parade took place in the other direction and not on the entire avenue, according to army archives.
22 helicopters and six light aircraft
An initial table will first highlight 31 countries which participated in the Liberation of France, 14 Western countries and 17 countries from Africa and the Maghreb including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia but also Senegal, Chad and Djibouti. This engagement will be staged with four vintage vehicles loaned by the “Garand de la Mémoire” association, in reference to the American rifle of the time, the M1 Garand.
In the process, 22 helicopters and six light aircraft will continue the parade which will give pride of place to military units elevated to the rank of Companion of the Liberation, such as the Chad marching regiment, the marines of the Kieffer commando or the bombing group Lorraine. On a shorter and narrower avenue, the foot parade will be reduced by 30% with 4,000 participants. There will be no parade of motorized troops, the governor clarified during a press conference.
The Black Frame of Saumur present
One hundred young French people who are part of a new Army recruitment program will also parade, as will reservists and universal national service (SNU) volunteers, who will form the Olympic rings in front of the presidential stand.
The final scene will pay tribute to the links between the armies and Olympism, with the presence of the Cadre Noir de Saumur and the chief squire of this corps of elite horsemen, Colonel Thibault Vallette. This Gold medalist at the Rio Olympics in 2016 will bring the Olympic flame on horseback and hand it over to the torchbearers, who will then go to other symbolic places in Paris such as the National Assembly.
The parade of planes will welcome four foreign aircraft, two British and two Americans. And the Patrouille de France will close the ceremony by passing over a presidential stand that is narrower than usual.
