Cerermony - Illumination of the Champs-Élysées: 120 000 Parisians were present

By Mulder, Paris, Champs-Elysées, 20 november 2022

''It is a great pleasure for me to be the Godfather of the Illuminations des Champs-Élysées 2022 and to accompany this emblematic ceremony of the end-of-year celebrations! I look forward to seeing you on Sunday, November 20th to illuminate the most beautiful avenue in the world and to share this moment together. A big thank you to the Champs-Élysées Committee for its confidence. '' - Tahar Rahim

This Sunday, November 20, 2022, more than 120,000 Parisians came to celebrate the Illuminations of the Champs-Élysées, with Tahar Rahim, godfather of this 2022 edition. A large crowd once again accepted the invitation of the Comité Champs-Élysées for this unmissable event on the most beautiful avenue in the world, which was pedestrianized for this occasion. 

 This year, Marc-Antoine Jamet, President of the Comité Champs-Élysées launched the famous countdown alongside actor Tahar Rahim who pressed the buzzer, triggering the Illuminations that will make the Champs-Élysées shine until January 2, 2023. They were accompanied by Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, her First Deputy, Emmanuel Grégoire, Olivia Polski, Deputy Mayor in charge of Commerce, Jeanne d'Hauteserre, Mayor of the 8th arrondissement, Chris de Lapuente, Chairman and CEO of Sephora World and two "Little Princes", Eliott and Emma. Thanks to the association Les Petits Princes, supported for several years by the Comité Champs-Élysées, these two little hospitalized children were able to make their dream come true and light up the city of Paris alongside their idol.

The inauguration was broadcasted by hundreds of media and international networks. This year, spectators were able to discover a brand new light creation, Sobrillance, composed of millions of LEDs and golden flashes. As a concrete illustration of the Comité Champs-Élysées' commitment to energy sobriety, this year the Illuminations will be lit every day from 5:00 pm to 11:45 pm (compared to 2:00 am previously), and refocused from November 20 to January 2, 2023, for a duration of six weeks instead of seven. 

This year, for the first time, the inauguration ceremony will be followed by an "extinction" ceremony on November 20 at 11:45 pm. Marc Antoine Jamet, surrounded by a few personalities including the young singer Louane, godmother of the Illuminations in 2020, Katia Lefeuvre Executive Director of ADEME will symbolically press the same buzzer, to recall the commitment of the Committee for a chosen sobriety. 
 
The inauguration of the Illuminations of the Champs-Élysées is a highly symbolic moment and an unmissable event for Parisians, marking the beginning of the end-of-year festivities. For the Comité Champs-Élysées, it was imperative to show solidarity with the French people by reducing the avenue's electricity consumption this winter, without compromising its radiance or preventing these moments of collective and shared joy synonymous with festivities. This year, in 2022, the inauguration was again broadcast live on France 3 Ile de France and through the two other media partners of the Committee RTL and 20 Minutes.

After four years surrounded by a halo of red, mysterious, magical and wonderful, it is a brand new scenography, Sobrillance, composed of millions of LEDs and golden flashes, original creation of the company Blachère Illumination, a small business from Vaucluse, leader in its market, which will decorate the Champs-Élysées. A modern Avenue is a model Avenue. In publishing its energy conservation plan, the Committee had already announced on September 20 important measures to reduce its electricity consumption. Thus, the Illuminations, lit every day at 5:00 pm, will be extinguished at 11:45 pm (instead of 2:00 am before), and refocused from November 20 to January 2, 2023 for a duration of 6 weeks instead of 7.

While the Illuminations, in 2006, required 480,000 KWH, they will only consume a total of 11,500 KWH in 2022, a reduction of 97% in 16 years and 44% compared to 2021! This measure completes the other initiatives already taken by the Committee, in particular the extinction at 10:00 pm of the signs, windows and screens of the businesses of its members, to reduce the electricity consumption of the Avenue this winter without compromising its radiance or preventing these moments of collective and shared joy synonymous with the holidays. As a concrete demonstration of its commitment, the Committee will take the initiative to extinguish the Illuminations during a second ceremony: the extinction after the Illumination.

The Illuminations are a show. It is produced by the Comité Champs-Élysées thanks to the support of its members, the City of Paris and their partners. RTL will join France 3 Ile-de-France and 20 Minutes, media already mobilized around the event. For a brilliant sponsor, a brilliant moment, a prominent sponsor was needed. One of the biggest French brands on the Avenue, Sephora, has therefore decided to become the exclusive sponsor of the Illuminations.

The return of the inauguration in the middle of the pedestrianized Champs-Elysées, last year, had symbolized the return to normal life after the confinements and curfews. 110,000 people had gathered to launch a final countdown before the lighting of the Avenue by Clara Luciani. More than a quarter of the French population saw the 2021 ceremony on television where, in France, it was broadcasted by all the TV news, retransmitted on all the social networks, taken up by hundreds of international media. Alongside Tahar Rahim, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and the President of the Committee, two "Little Princes" will be invited, as every year, to illuminate the Champs-Élysées. The Champs-Élysées Committee is happy to offer its support to this association whose mission is to make the dreams of sick children come true.

You can discover the official photos in our Flickr page here and also the official ones here

Photos and Video : Boris Colletier

(Source : press release)