PARIS — A year after it captivated crowds during the Paris Olympics, a centerpiece of the summer Games is making a comeback.
The iconic helium-powered balloon that attracted myriads of tourists during the summer Games has shed its Olympic branding and is now just called the ''Paris Cauldron.'' It is set to rise again into the air later Saturday, lifting off over the Tuileries Garden.
Around 30,000 people are expected to attend the launch, which coincides with France's annual street music festival — the Fete de la Musique, the Paris police prefecture said.
And it won't be a one-time event. After Saturday's flight, the balloon will lift off into the sky each summer evening from June 21 to Sept. 14, for the next three years.
The cauldron's ascent may become a new rhythm of the Parisian summer, with special flights planned for Bastille Day on July 14 and the anniversary of the 2024 opening ceremony on July 26.
Gone is the official ''Olympic'' branding — forbidden under IOC reuse rules — but the spectacle remains.
The 30-meter (98-foot) -tall floating ring, dreamed up by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur and powered by French energy company EDF, simulates flame without fire: LED lights, mist jets and high-pressure fans create a luminous halo that hovers above the city at dusk, visible from rooftops across the capital.
Though it stole the show in 2024, the cauldron was only meant to be temporary, not engineered for multi-year outdoor exposure.