Fourteen months after its windmill came crashing down in the night, the Moulin Rouge’s most famous architectural feature will be fully restored on Thursday evening, reviving one of Paris’s most iconic tourist sights.
At 10:45 pm (2045 GMT), the cabaret’s new red-and-gold wings — each over twelve metres (40 feet) wide and now powered by a shiny new made-to-measure motor — will once again twirl above Pigalle.
To mark the occasion, Moulin Rouge dancers will perform outside the venue, with a flurry of swirling red feathers symbolising the restoration of the rotating landmark.
The venue, immortalised by painter Toulouse-Lautrec and made famous by Australian director Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film of the same name, woke up without its trademark wings in April 2024.
A failure in the central axis was blamed for the accident, which stunned locals and visitors alike.
Noone was injured but three of the illuminated letters on its facade were ripped off.
New wings were installed in time for the start of the Paris Olympics in July last year, but without a motor.
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© Agence France-Presse
