The eye-catching ceremony will take place across a 6km route along the Seine. It will begin at Austerlitz bridge and end among the gardens, fountains and palaces in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower at Trocadero.
There will be almost 100 boats carrying more than 10,000 athletes, plus a host of dignitaries, which sail past Paris' iconic landmarks, including Notre Dame cathedral and Pont Neuf.
The boats will transport the athletes in the parade but also be used in the artistic part of the ceremony, which will showcase the history and culture of Paris and France.
The identity of the performers, though, has been kept a tight secret.
Thousands of people are still expected to line the river and the streets with millions more watching on television around the world.
"I’d like to show France in all its diversity," said Thomas Jolly, the French actor and theatre director named as the ceremony's artistic director - the role performed by Danny Boyle at London 2012.
"Illustrate the richness and plurality shaped by its history, which has been influenced and
inspired by the diverse cultures that have passed through it, while itself serving as a source of inspiration."
The ceremony will also include the official opening of the Games, carried out by France president Emmanuel Macron, and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. The ceremony begins at 19:30 local time (18:30 BST) on Friday, 26 July.
It is expected to last just under four hours, with the final stages taking place as the sun sets across the French capital.
Keeping with tradition, Greece will be the first nation introduced during the ceremony.
NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of their flagbearers for the Games.
Greece will then be followed by the Refugee Olympic Team, while hosts France will be the last to be introduced.
Those athletes from Russia and Belarus competing as individuals because of their countries' role in the war in Ukraine will not take part.
Reuters add: The Paris Olympics will be a spectacular event at a time of historic global disruptions and growing divisive forces, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Monday, four days before the Games opening ceremony.
The Olympics in the French capital will see several firsts, with an opening ceremony on barges along the river Seine instead of the traditional ceremony in an Olympic stadium.
The Games will also incorporate the city's major landmarks, including the Eiffel tower, into the competitions, many of which will be staged in urban areas across the city.
It will also be the first Olympics to have gender parity, with equal numbers of men and women participating.
"Like billions of people around the world we are awaiting with impatience the youngest, most inclusive, most urban and most sustainable Games," IOC President Thomas Bach said at the opening of his organisation's session in the French capital.
"We are convinced that together with the entire world we will experience spectacular Olympic Games," he said, with French President Emmanuel Macron in attendance.
