All eyes will be on Paris as the Olympic Games officially begin. With a ground-breaking parade on the River Seine and a rumoured star-studded performance, here is how you can the Olympics opening ceremony anywhere in the world.
Over 10,000 athletes will be competing in this year’s Olympics, which are taking place in Paris between July 24 and August 11.
Not only will sports fans be able to watch 32 different sports in the coming two weeks, many are looking forward to the spectacular opening ceremony.
Designed to be seen by as many people as possible, the Olympic opening ceremony will bring sports to the heart of Paris.
In a first for the games, it will take place outside of a stadium and see competitors float down the river Seine in a spectacular parade on July 26.
Departing from Austerlitz bridge at 6:30pm (UK time), the parade will weave its way through central Paris.
The 6 km route will then culminate in a final performance outside the Trocadéro and the Eiffel Tower. It is also rumoured that Celine Dion and Lady Gaga will duet during the opening ceremony, although this is unconfirmed.
As there is so much to enjoy during the three-hour ceremony, here is how you can watch it from anywhere in the world.
How to watch the Olympics opening ceremony anywhere in the world
The BBC are providing wall-to-wall coverage of the sporting event, across BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 5:45pm.
The broadcaster will also be offering in-depth analysis, as the opening ceremony gets underway at 6:30pm.
UK audiences can also stream the Olympics opening ceremony on Discovery+, as part of their regular subscription.
If you are overseas, you won’t have to miss out as many broadcasters are also covering the opening ceremony.
RTÉ in Ireland, CBC in Canada and Channel 9 in Australia will be airing the Olympics opening ceremony for free. These outlets are also providing additional English commentary throughout.
If you are outside of the UK and don't have access to these channels, you can stream this year’s opening ceremony using iPlayer and a VPN.
VPNs (virtual private networks) are a popular way to access TV shows only available in other countries. VPNs are an easy-to-use piece of software that lets you change your device's IP address so it looks like you’re in the UK. This means you can use any UK streaming service such as iPlayer as if you're in the country.
If you're already confused, don't panic. Our sister site, TechRadar, has put every major VPN service to the test to save you the hassle of sifting through the web yourself - NordVPN.
- Choose a VPN and install it - our go-to recommendation is NordVPN.
- Connect to a server - for shows from the UK, for example, you'll want to connect to a server based in UK.
- Go to the show you wish to access - for the Olympic opening ceremony, head to BBC iPlayer.
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