After a 2023 edition marked by excesses linked to overconsumption of alcohol, one might have thought that the 2024 Agricultural Show was going to be a little more “soft”. However, when night falls, there is no shortage of drinking scenes…
6:44 p.m., at the Agricultural Show. While the last visitors leave the halls of the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, where the great celebration of the agricultural world has been held since Saturday February 24, others rush into pavilion 3 dedicated to the products and flavors of France. In a few minutes, at 7 p.m., the public must leave the premises. Only exhibitors, security, the press, and of course the organization of the Show are authorized to stay.
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Inside the gigantic hall, groups of revelers form around the regional stands. Security agents begin to block access to the pavilion, and order those who do not have a “pass” to leave the premises.
After 7 p.m., this is the rule, exhibitors are no longer allowed to serve alcoholic drinks. However, there are few people who don’t have a drink in their hand. And as time passes and security becomes more insistent, groups retreat inside the stands, which they cover with a tarpaulin to hide from view. Here, alcohol flows freely. Smokers light their cigarettes. “Three years ago, I saw completely drunk people throwing up in the middle of the aisles,” confides a regular. “Some nights, it’s really nonsense.”
“We are finding it more and more difficult to fire them”
If 2024 were to be the year of a return to calm, after a 2023 edition marked by alcohol abuse, it is clear that this is not the case. A security agent, who wishes to remain anonymous, is annoyed: “Every night it’s the same, the partygoers are stiff and it’s more and more difficult to kick them out. Yesterday, I almost came to the hands with a man who threw a glass of beer in my face just because I grabbed his arm to get him out…”
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To avoid bad publicity due to excesses, the organization of the Show had nevertheless put in place the means: this year, “thirst removers” walked the aisles to offer glasses of water, audio spots inviting sobriety were broadcast, and a charter was even imposed on exhibitors, inviting them to no longer serve pints on weekends, nor sell open bottles.
Sponsored water bars… Pernod-Ricard.
Because in the event of excessive consumption, the punishment can be severe. “If the rules are not respected, we will take sanctions which could go as far as closing the stand,” threatened at the beginning of the week, to West FranceValérie Le Roy, director of the Salon.
It remains to be hoped that the last weekend of the event, these Saturday March 2 and Sunday March 3, will not further taint the image already severely damaged by the stormy opening of the Show during the visit of Emmanuel Macron, Saturday February 24.