The flags of the 169 participating nations were paraded, accompanied by music from the French Republican Guard Band, who played popular tunes such as Les Champs-Élysées and Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.

[7] The six newly elected members of the International Paralympic Committee Athletes' Council were introduced: Lenine Cunha from Portugal, the first athlete with an intellectual disability to join the Council; Vladyslava Kravchenko [sk] a swimmer from Malta; Martina Caironi, a para-athlete from Italy; Yoomin Won, a wheelchair basketball player from South Korea; Tan Yujiao, a powerlifter from China; and Denise Schindler, a para-cyclist from Germany.

French DJ Cut Killer supplied the music, with mixes that included Jacques Dutronc's Les Cactus, Suprême NTM's Seine-Saint-Denis Style and Manu Dibango's Soul Makossa.

[1][9] "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas & the Papas was played, and there was a video featuring four Los Angeles–based Paralympians: Lauren Ridloff, Samantha Bosco, Ezra Frech and Jamal Hill.

The action shifted to the Venice Beach Skatepark in Los Angeles, where adaptive athletes including Oscar Loreto Jr., Kanya Sesser and Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham put on a skateboarding display.

Music was provided by jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker, violinist and Broadway composer Gaelynn Lea, rapper, songwriter and athlete Garnet Silver-Hall, and Anderson .Paak.