Entertainment, recognized street food chefs, music, a good atmosphere and finally, sport! Welcome to the main hall of the Vincennes racecourse which, starting this Sunday, November 19, is launching its major winter meeting (see box). Fourteen Sundays, fourteen days of horse racing grand prix, but above all “fourteen moments of pleasure for all those who seek to take the opposite view from gloomy Sundays”, explains Valérie François, marketing and communications director of Trotteur Français, the parent company of trotting races. .
With this second edition of “Pleasure Sundays”, the Trotteur Français and its Vincennes racecourse intend to dust off the image of an activity reserved only for connoisseurs of the world of racing. A diversification strategy that the National Horse Racing Federation (FNCH) encourages. “We must offer complementary activities to welcome a different audience than our core target which is rather aging,” points out Oisin Hopper, communications and marketing manager at FNCH.
Open the racecourses to the outside world
With its 235 racecourses and some 2,300 races per year, France is the European nation with the most racing circuits. A track record that is sometimes difficult to accept, particularly for the 226 regional racecourses, whose 1901 law association status means that they operate thanks to volunteers and few races all year round. Less than twenty days per year for certain structures.
“This is why we must exploit the site and diversify its activities,” explains Hosin Opper. Propose the infrastructure for professional events, such as seminars or team building, but also for general public operations, such as trade shows or fairs. » Objective: to raise awareness of the place so that a person who has come to another event can go there tomorrow to discover horse racing.
All age groups
From Cabourg to Vincennes, via Nantes or Lyon, all the racecourses are racing to attract a new audience. On the program: nights during the week for young professionals and theme days at the weekend for families. “We are aimed at all age groups and all socio-professional categories,” maintains Osin Hopper, whose watchword is diversity when it comes to supporting racecourses in the creation of events.
“With the scale of the range of outings available in Paris, to convince, you have to succeed in offering something a little bit different,” underlines Valérie François about the Dimanches Plaisirs de Vincennes. A challenge that the racecourse met with flying colors last year, with its 5,000 to 10,000 spectators per Sunday, for the first edition. A victory all the sweeter “because in the end people are loyal, they come back” thanks to the spectacle of the races, which remains the most popular activity of these days.
A Sunday full of pleasures. On November 19, the Vincennes racecourse opens its “Pleasure Sundays” season with a big party, where a brass band and cheerleaders will put on the show, alongside the drivers and their horses of course. Because today’s event remains the Prix de Bretagne, the first qualifying event for the Prix d’Amérique Legend Race. If the cracks will go trotting, those who are likely to gallop are the children: pony baptisms, carousels and a Kids village await them from midday. Another key attraction of the place: the Food Market is back for a tour with a selection of street food delicacies. On the menu, number 19: homemade veggie or carnivorous fried pasta, dishes from Mali or the Ivory Coast, without forgetting the street food essentials: pizza, empañadas and burgers.
Free entry upon presentation of an invitation to download here.