the organizers close the accesses to the Paris exhibition center due to too many people

No more visitors are allowed to enter the Paris Agricultural Show on Saturday March 4. The gates to the exhibition center thus closed two hours earlier than usual in order to “to secure” the Parisian demonstration, announced the organizers. The latter justify their decision by the high attendance which made it difficult to circulate in the aisles.

From Saturday morning, the aisles of the exhibition center filled up, making travel difficult in places. The event will normally resume at 9 a.m. Sunday for its final day.

“A popular party, not a festival”

The public, largely family, is also made up of clusters of alcoholic visitors, more and more uninhibited as the visiting hours stretch and the beer barrels empty, noted AFP journalists on the spot.

In the middle of the week, Arnaud Lemoine, director of the National Center for Agricultural Exhibitions and Competitions (Ceneca), owner of the Salon, had called for preserving the atmosphere of the meeting in the face of excess alcohol. “This fair is a popular, family celebration, and must remain so. We are not a festival”he had pointed out to AFP.

The number of security guards “virtually doubled compared to last year”, he explained, and the stands selling beers or liqueurs were asked not to offer tasting glasses. Similarly, wine bottles must be sold closed and not uncorked in situ. “Thirsters”, employees loaded with cans of water to rehydrate visitors, are also mobilized. The show’s visit record dates back to 2014, with more than 700,000 visitors.