326 000 tickets for Paris Olympics opening ceremony - minister

A total of 326 000 tickets are set to be sold or given away for free for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on the river Seine, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday, giving the exact number for the first time.

"We will have 104 000 spectators on the lower bank who have paid for a ticket," Darmanin told a hearing in the Senate. "Then you have 222 000 people on the higher banks (with free tickets)."

He estimated that another 200 000 people would watch the open-air parade along the river from buildings that overlook the Seine, with an additional 50 000 in fanzones in the capital.

A total of 180 boats are set to take part in the opening ceremony, of which 94 will contain athletes, the top security official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, told the same hearing.

Organisers have scaled back the opening ceremony in the face of resistance from French security services and worries about controling such large crowds and the risk of terror attacks.

But is still set to break records in terms of crowd size, with all previous opening ceremonies taking place in the main athletics' stadium.

Organisers and the Paris mayor's office had initially imagined up to two million people in attendance, while Darmanin referred to 600 000 tickets in 2022.

The open-air boat parade is in keeping with promises to make the Paris Olympics "iconic", with the local organising committee keen to break from past traditions in the way it stages the world's biggest sporting event.

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics ceremony is generally considered to be the most spectacular in history while the 2012 London ceremony, overseen by "Trainspotting" director Danny Boyle, won rave reviews for showcasing Britain’s quirky side.