FRANCE 98 – Communique Template
The festive spirit, already kindled in the streets of Paris the day before kick-off with the “Festival of Football” on 9 June, will also reign at the Stade de France on 10 June and 12 July 1998 when the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for FRANCE 98 take place.
The French Organising Committee has decided to unveil part of its plans for these ceremonies, which will celebrate the official opening of the competition, and then
33 days later, pay tribute to the winner of the 16th World Cup.
Fernand Sastre and Michel Platini, Presidents of the French Organising Committee, have chosen Yves Pépin and his team at the ECA2 agency several months ago to dream up and then put on both proceedings. “We were won over by the newness of ECA2’s proposals, their unusualness, magical qualities and universal appeal,” says Josée Santoni, Director of Entertainment and Special Events for the French Organising Committee, going on to say, “We also warmed to the fact that the project assimilates the specific logistical restrictions inherent at this type of ceremony, given that they will take place within a stadium and just minutes before the first match or after the Final”.
Yves Pépin, who will create and direct both ceremonies, will be able to give further instance that creativity and imagination do indeed go hand in hand.
For over 25 years, he has demonstrated his singular style and savoir-faire worldwide in such varied fields as big events, design, graphics, audio-visual and cinematic productions.
Today, ECA2 has established an international reputation for its original work, in particular in Japan and the USA. On 10 June 1998, the game of football will be truly celebrated, as will the fervour and enthusiasm of the fans coming from all over the World to be at the Stade to France. A tribute in which magic and special effects will enhance the poetry of the occasion, its colour, joy and originality – and it will also be an event that the 80,000 spectators at the stadium can all join in.
As for the Closing ceremony on the evening of 12 July after the new world champion team has been crowned, its creator wanted to lay the emphasis on colour, music and light and we may even see the Stade de France “take off”!
But that is all we shall be told for the moment. “An event’s magic relies in part on an element of secrecy and surprise”, says Josée Santoni, who nonetheless does reveal that over a thousand “actors” and technicians will be taking part in the proceedings either on the Stade de France pitch or in the wings.