Paris's Iconic Champs-Elysées Set to Transform for Christmas and Olympics

The Champs-Elysées in Paris is set for a new look for the festive season and the Olympic Games. In a press conference at the Barrière Le Fouquet’s hotel on October 30, Marc-Antoine Jamet, president of the Champs-Elysées Committee, unveiled the Parisian avenue’s new look. It includes illuminations with a three-rhythm pattern, a new visual identity and logo, four promotional posts, and revamped terraces.

The Champs-Elysées, the most famous avenue in Paris, stretching 2.6 kilometres, is being made-over ahead of next summer's Olympic Games in the French capital. It’s expected to host several events, including the beach volleyball stadium in the Champs de Mars region, as well as the opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games, set for August 28, 2024, between the Concorde square and the lower end of the Champs-Elysées.

To prepare for next year's sporting spectacle, which has led to changes in the Paris Fashion Week calendar, outfitting is underway for Champs-Elysées. The ceremonial lighting of the avenue’s Christmas and New Year illuminations will be activated on November 19 at 6 pm (CET).

French actor Gilles Lellouche will be this year's light switch-on celebrity. Three critically ill children, backed by Petits Princes, a French charity, will join him. The trees along the avenue will light up every evening from November 19 to January 7, 2024, between 5 pm and midnight (CET), thanks to French company Blachere Illuminations. The lights will feature a more sustained three-rhythm pattern.

The Champs-Elysées Committee has also introduced its logo’s new graphics with themed pictograms and a blue, white, and red palette. The avenue’s festive lighting is known for its low energy consumption, expected to be around 13,300 kWh in 2023, higher than last year's 11,500 kWh due to a week’s longer illumination this year.

This festive season, the Champs-Elysées has a new slogan, "Illuminons l’avenue, faisons briller Paris," or "let's light up the avenue, make Paris shine." The committee also showed four promotional posters for the event, designed by creative agency Monsieur Stan, featuring pictures of young couples.

Significant renovation work has begun with an aim to make the avenue more attractive to Parisians. The Champs-Elysées Committee introduced a new visual identity and logo, sporting classic blue, white and red colours, changing as per the promotional theme. The avenue's 17 terraces will be revamped with bottle-green gazebos by Belgian designer Ramy Fischer.

The Champs-Elysées has commenced a comprehensive makeover project, envisioning a more enticing avenue. It aims to revitalise “the world's most beautiful avenue” by adding new green spaces, pedestrian areas, and repaving its walkways with Tarn granite.

The redevelopment is proving successful, says Jamet, with 180 businesses contributing to a "village feel" and a thriving daily footfall. He jokes that "At Monopoly, it would be worth more than €18 billion" and emphasises its diverse mix of cultural spaces, restaurants, food stores, sports retailers returning to the scene, international retailers unveiling new flagships, and high-end brands such as Louis Vuitton creating impressive storefronts.