The Champs-Élysées is the Paris avenue famous for large New Year's Eve crowds and views toward the Arc de Triomphe. The broad avenue forms a major ceremonial axis through the French capital.
On December 31, people gather along the avenue to count down to midnight, watch projections or illuminations, and celebrate near the monument at its western end. The exact program can vary from year to year, and access arrangements may change for crowd safety.
The avenue stretches from the Place de la Concorde toward the Place Charles de Gaulle, where the Arc de Triomphe stands. Its name comes from the Elysian Fields of Greek mythology, a paradise for the blessed dead.
The Champs-Élysées is also associated with the Bastille Day military parade and the final stage of the Tour de France. Those events can make the avenue’s identity seem broader than New Year’s Eve, but the New Year gathering remains one of its best-known annual public celebrations.