What's big, glowing and no longer Olympic? Paris has the answer

PARIS — The Paris Games may be over, but the flame is still rising — just don't call it Olympic.

The helium-powered balloon that lit up the French capital's skyline during the 2024 Games is making a dramatic comeback to the Tuileries Gardens, reborn as the ''Paris Cauldron.''

Thanks to an agreement with the International Olympic Committee, the renamed marvel will now lift off into the sky each summer evening — a ghostly echo of last year's opening ceremony — from June 21 to Sept. 14, for the next three years.

Gone is the official ''Olympic'' branding — forbidden under IOC reuse rules — but not the spectacle. The 30-meter-tall (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.

''It's one of those monuments in Paris that could stay,'' said Laurent Broéze, a local architect pausing in the gardens on Thursday. ''It was set up temporarily, but a bit like the Eiffel Tower, it makes sense for it to return. It's a bit of a shame they want to take it down later, but maybe it could be installed somewhere else, I don't know.''

Though it stole the show in 2024, the cauldron's original aluminum-and-balloon build was only meant to be temporary — not engineered for multiyear outdoor exposure.

To transform it into a summer staple, engineers reinforced it: The aluminum ring and tether points were rebuilt with tougher components to handle rain, sun and temperature changes over several seasons.

Though it's a hot-air-balloon-style, the lift comes solely from helium — no flame, no burner, just gas and engineering.

Aérophile, Paris's tethered balloon specialist, redesigned the winch and tether system to meet aviation rules, allowing safe operation in winds up to 20–25 kph (12-15 mph).

Hydraulic, electrical, and misting systems were fortified — not only to ensure smooth nightly flights but to endure months of wear and tear untested on the original design. These retrofits shift the cauldron from a fragile, one-off spectacle to a resilient, summerlong landmark — prepared to withstand everything Paris summers can throw at it.

The structure first dazzled during the Paris 2024 Games, ignited on July 26 by Olympic champions Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner. Over just 40 days, it drew more than 200,000 visitors, according to officials.

Now perched in the center of the drained Tuileries pond, the cauldron's return is part of French President Emmanuel Macron's effort to preserve the Games' spirit in the city, as Paris looks ahead to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Visitors have already begun to gather.

''Beautiful,'' said Javier Smith, a tourist from Texas. ''And the place where it's going to be, or is sitting now, it's beautiful. All these beautiful buildings, the Louvre, all that is fantastic.''

Access is free and unticketed. The cauldron will be on display from morning to night, igniting with light from 10 a.m. and lifting off each evening after the garden closes — 10:30 p.m. in June and July, with earlier times through September. It will float above the city for several hours before quietly descending around 1 a.m.

The ''flame,'' while entirely electric, still conjures a sense of Olympic poetry.

''Yes, we came for a little outing focused on the statues related to mythology in the Tuileries Garden,'' said Chloé Solana, a teacher visiting with her students. ''But it's true we're also taking advantage of the opportunity, because last week the Olympic cauldron wasn't here yet, so it was really nice to be able to show it to the students.''

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.

It no longer carries the Olympic name. But this phoenix-like cauldron is still lifting Paris into the clouds — and into memory.

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Nicolas Garriga contributed to this report.