French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday that a total of 326,000 tickets are prepared to be sold or given away before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
Organizers have scaled back plans for a waterborne parade and the idea of including crowds as large as millions over resistance from security services concerned with the possibility of terror attacks.
It will still smash records in terms of the size, with all previous opening ceremonies taking place in the primary athletic stadium.
Darmanin said 104,000 spectators who have paid for a ticket will watch the ceremony at the lower bank and 222,000 spectators will sit at the higher banks with free tickets.
The interior minister predicted a further 200,000 spectators will observe the open air parade on July 26 along the river from buildings that overlook the Seine, with an extra 50,000 fanzones in the capital.
The open air ceremony on boats is part of promises to host an iconic Olympics in Paris with the local organizing committee eager to break from past traditions.
The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics ceremony is widely viewed as the most spectacular in history while the 2012 London ceremony overseen by “Trainspotting” director Danny Boyle was popular for showing Britain’s unusual side.
A total 180 boats will sail around six kilometers (four miles) down the Seine with 94 transporting athletes, the top security official for the Paris region said.
“No country has informed us that they do not want to take part,” Darmanin said. “They have confidence in our organization.”
The executive in charge of planning and risk management said special security considerations will be considered for high-risk delegations, such as the US or Israel.
France was on high alert for terror attacks in October after a suspected Islamist broke into a school in northern France and stabbed a teacher to death.
About one million people are set to be screened for possible security risks, including athletes, journalists, private security and those living near key infrastructure.
The Olympics will run from July 26 – August 11, followed by the Paralympics.
