It’s a rare decision. The Paris Agricultural Show decided to close its doors on Saturday around 4:30 p.m., two hours earlier than planned, for “security reasons”. Quite annoyed visitors were turned away at the entrance at the end of the afternoon, when they had paid for their ticket.
” It’s catastrophic. Since 4:30 p.m., we have not been able to return. There is no place to get reimbursed, ”testified Sami Honein, a 38-year-old Parisian, stranded outside with his partner. Messages over the loudspeakers said to come back the next day.
Is it due to a lack of organization? “No, we were simply victims of our success, explained this Sunday morning on RMC the boss of the International Agricultural Show, Jean-Luc Poulain. That day we had more than 100,000 admissions in one day, we had more than 50,000. The ticket purchased (valid for 9 days) is not dated, so we cannot predict how people will come or not on the show. »
“Think about something else”
To prevent this hiccup from happening again, “perhaps it will be necessary to date the ticket day by day, to think about something else”, concedes Jean-Luc Poulain. “In any case, this is the first time in the history of the Agricultural Show that we have had to close the doors two hours before, because security was no longer guaranteed in the aisles if ever there was there was a crowd movement. »
The attendance record dates back to 2014, with more than 700,000 visitors over the duration of the show. They were around 500,000 last year, for the first edition since the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the goal again this year. But does the crowd on Saturday portend a new record? “I would be surprised, reacts Jean-Luc Poulain, because we have not only had 100,000 days. We vary between 50,000 and 100,000 visitors per day. »
The show, which started on February 25, reopened at 9 a.m. this Sunday for its last day.