History information. The Agricultural Show

The show owes its origins to the agricultural shows that flourished in the 19th century. But it was the competitions organized for the Universal Exhibition of 1855 that launched it. After the Second World War, two events coexist. The agricultural machinery fair around March 1 and the agricultural competition around mid-March. In 1964, the Minister of Agriculture Edgar Pisani and the President of the Republic, General de Gaulle pushed for the creation of a single major event: the International Agricultural Show which was to last a week. It is a huge success. Since 1977 more than a million visitors go there. It is the largest global event of its kind.

An unmissable meeting of politicians

Politicians have always wanted to be associated with these major meetings of the rural world. Already Presidents Auriol and Coty were visiting the salons of the Fourth Republic. And after de Gaulle and Pisani, the successors were numerous. Giscard stayed there for two hours in 1977. Mitterrand only went there once during an election campaign. Chirac did not miss this opportunity. Holland had even spent 12 hours there. President Macron broke his record. So that sometimes incidents animate these visits. As when President Sarkozy released his famous “break it pov idiot! ». In the end, the farmers did not hold it against him. A sign that at the Salon de l’Agriculture good humor always ends up winning.