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| Paris plans New Year’s Eve spectacle to rival Sydney and New York | Paris plans New Year’s Eve spectacle to rival Sydney and New York |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Every New Year’s Eve at midnight, the glitter ball drops in New York’s Times Square, fireworks explode over the Thames in London and the Sydney Opera House. But in Paris – nothing. | Every New Year’s Eve at midnight, the glitter ball drops in New York’s Times Square, fireworks explode over the Thames in London and the Sydney Opera House. But in Paris – nothing. |
| All that will change this year, when the French party poopers will at last join the global midnight countdown. | All that will change this year, when the French party poopers will at last join the global midnight countdown. |
| Authorities in the French capital are aware that Paris is “one of the only cities in the world not to send a postcard on 31 December”, in the words of city culture official Bruno Julliard. So this New Year’s Eve, the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs-Elysées will be the focus of a 15-minute video show leading up to midnight. “There are always a lot of people on the Champs-Elysées,” Julliard told Le Figaro. “And we wanted some beautiful images to be shown.” | Authorities in the French capital are aware that Paris is “one of the only cities in the world not to send a postcard on 31 December”, in the words of city culture official Bruno Julliard. So this New Year’s Eve, the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs-Elysées will be the focus of a 15-minute video show leading up to midnight. “There are always a lot of people on the Champs-Elysées,” Julliard told Le Figaro. “And we wanted some beautiful images to be shown.” |
| Even without the lure of an official display, hundreds of thousands of people converge every New Year’s Eve on the Champs-Elysées, prompting the deployment of large numbers of police to deter troublemakers. A total of 300,000 revellers braved the wind and rain last year. | Even without the lure of an official display, hundreds of thousands of people converge every New Year’s Eve on the Champs-Elysées, prompting the deployment of large numbers of police to deter troublemakers. A total of 300,000 revellers braved the wind and rain last year. |
| The projection mapping display on the Arc de Triomphe will highlight the Parisian “art of living” and the environment, in a nod to the international climate change summit to be hosted by France in December 2015. Then, in the seconds before midnight, a countdown will play on the monument’s facade, after which illuminations will fill the skies. | The projection mapping display on the Arc de Triomphe will highlight the Parisian “art of living” and the environment, in a nod to the international climate change summit to be hosted by France in December 2015. Then, in the seconds before midnight, a countdown will play on the monument’s facade, after which illuminations will fill the skies. |
| The avenue, whose Christmas lights received an environmentally-friendly LED makeover this year, is to be closed to traffic for the event. It will remain shut for a New Year’s Day parade featuring floats and bands. The 1 January 2014 circus-themed event involved 600 participants. | |
| The two days of festivities will cost €600,000 (£470,000), to which city authorities are contributing a third of the funding. | The two days of festivities will cost €600,000 (£470,000), to which city authorities are contributing a third of the funding. |