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Day 14 Paris 2024 Olympics: Why Fan Zones are popular


9 August 2024: Fan Zones – communal, collective, cornerstones of celebrations at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. That’s why they work – and they are free, fun, friendly, and safe. 

 

Posters around Paris advertise them – Paris Fête les Jeux – Paris Celebrates the Games. There are 16 of them in Paris with “grand écrans, animations sportives & culturelles près de chez vous” – “big screens, sports and cultural events near you.”

 

They are dedicated areas outside town halls and near sporting venues where fans – families, friends, tourists, volunteers, pets, children, and suburban socialites – can meet, socialize, and gather around a large screen to watch, cheer, and celebrate together. Children and youth can shoot ball, play mini golf, exchange merchandise, chat to their neighbours, buy a lemonade, have a bowl of salad, and sit or stand around the plaza or square. Adults can buy a beer, relax on a deck chair, and entertain the whole family. A band plays during lull periods and stalls have community information on health, sport, town hall exhibitions, and local events. A first aid tent provides advice on how to endure the summer heat.

 

I spoke to a few locals. Retired Frenchman Claude, 83, had not heard of Fan Zones before, but came on Day 1 to see what the noise was about. Zoe and Geoff, 24 and 27, from France and Britain bought lots of venue tickets but came to the Fan Zone to catch a good view of the “range of different events.” They couldn’t get tickets to attend the equestrian events in Versailles, so they came to the free viewing in the Zone. Marianne, who wouldn’t divulge her age, but was under 50, said she lived a street away and found the Fan Zone to be a “community friendly” space where she could visit alone and yet be in “communal company.” Local guy Pierre said he meets his friends in the Zone where they watched the screen “for a bit” before going elsewhere. He liked the entertainment, especially the live band from Croatia. 

 

Elderly Marie and Jean-Marc came with their grandchildren who played basketball – shooting hoops – on site while they sat and chatted with their friends. They liked the free Zone where “anyone can come.” Jean-Marc added, “it’s for everyone, like the Olympics motto Games Wide Open.” As he said this, Shelty, originally from India, agreed. She was in the Zone with her husband and four children. She said the children could run around safely because it was a designated family-friendly space. Ranjan, 34, a tourist from Britain, staying with Shelty, said his children loved it too. He added that he liked the real-time updates. 

 

A group of five French teens – all male – loved meeting people from around the world, even though the location of this particular Fan Zone was not in the main tourist area. They said their parents wouldn’t let them go “over the river to the Champions Park.” One stated that he liked seeing events that he had never seen before, such as the canoe slalom in which a Frenchman won a gold medal and France took two silvers. They had never seen taekwondo before, in which France claimed a bronze medal. Their favourite event was the Men’s Cycling BMX Racing in which Joris Daudet of France won gold. 

 

I asked the teens what factors made a good Fan Zone. They talked over the top of each other but were agreed that the factors included: lots of interesting things to see and do, a friendly atmosphere, and having a “really, really large screen” that everyone could see even if it gets crowded. And “cool music” between events. The four-year-old sister of one of the teens joined the group. She liked having her cheeks painted with the French flag. The teens agreed that it was a cool thing to do too. 













 

MARTINA NICOLLS

MartinaNicollsWebsite  I  Rainy Day Healing  I  Martinasblogs  I  Publications  I  Facebook  I  Paris Website  I  Paris blogs  I  Animal Website  I  Flower Website I Global Gentlemanliness

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Martina Nicolls is an Australian author and international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilization, and foreign aid audits and evaluations. She lives in Paris.



 

 

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