After two years of absence, due to the health crisis, the fireworks organized at New Year around the Arc de Triomphe will be back for the transition to 2023, said the town hall of Paris, confirming information from BFMParis.
Before the countdown and this fireworks set off at midnight, Parisians and tourists are invited to gather on the Champs-Élysées from 10:00 p.m. to enjoy a musical program that will give pride of place to French artists, indicated Deputy Tourism and Nightlife Frédéric Hocquard.
At the end of December 2021, faced with the progression of the Omicron variant, the town hall of Paris, which finances the event, had to cancel the fireworks and the concerts planned on the famous avenue.
A "stinging memory", recalls the deputy Europe Ecology-the Greens.
A year earlier, she had chosen virtual reality, to promote distancing, with a concert by Jean-Michel Jarre in a digital Notre-Dame cathedral.
💬 "There will be fireworks with musical entertainment"
Frédéric Hocquard, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of tourism (@Fredhoc), announces the organization of a fireworks display on the Champs-Élysées in the occasion of the transition to the new year pic.twitter.com/7wvAA5MqPP
– BFM Paris Ile-de-France (@BFMParis) November 18, 2022
But after two years of restrictions, Paris "will return to a normal level of tourists, that is to say equal to that of 2018 and 2019", welcomes Frédéric Hocquard.
The Champs-Élysées expect 500,000 spectators for this New Year, according to the deputy.
Tahar Rahim inaugurates the illuminations of the avenue this Sunday
In September, the town hall decided, faced with the energy crisis, to stop lighting the Eiffel Tower and municipal buildings earlier each night, among other sobriety measures aimed at reducing its energy consumption by 10%.
The New Year's fireworks "fits into these specifications, it's not a sound and light show, we're careful", emphasizes Frédéric Hocquard.
The other fireworks display organized by the town hall is fired on July 14 from the Eiffel Tower.
As announced at the end of October, actor Tahar Rahim will launch this Sunday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m. the end-of-year illuminations of the Champs-Élysées which, due to the energy crisis, will take place during restricted time slots.
They will last a week less, with electricity consumption down 44%, according to the Champs-Élysées Committee, which brings together the economic, cultural and institutional players in the district.