While the Blues are feasting in Qatar alongside Parisians Neymar, Achraf Hakimi and Vitinha, near the Parc des Princes, PSG has decided to take advantage of the international break to set up a… Christmas market in its lair. Under a 750 m2 tent, the event, very fashionable during this period, is an opportunity for visitors to the mythical Parisian stadium to enjoy during the Stadium Tour, a relaxing break and entertainment, Savoyard food option, surrounded by fir trees. and Father Christmas, to the sound of the sacrosanct songs that relate to it.
On Wednesday, during the visit open to journalists, young and old crowd around the ice rink and the curling game. “It’s still easier to play football than to skate,” smiles a mini Mbappé, after a slip not fully controlled. His mother, who takes his picture at the other end of the mini-ice rink, is delighted to please her son: “It gives him a double gift: a tour of the Parc des Princes and a Christmas market full of entertainment, it’s Christmas before time! »
Entertainment for everyone
For PSG, which since the facelift of its Park from 2013 to 2016, is increasingly focusing on operations outside match days, setting up a Christmas market this year was obvious. “It was thought of as an extension of the Stadium Tour, explains Nicolas Arndt, director of ticketing and hospitality at PSG. The entertainment is for the whole family, from the synthetic ice rink and curling rink to the karaoke stand or the photobooth on the chairlift”.
The Parc des Princes, which welcomes about 2/3 of foreign visitors, clearly displays its ambitions: to become a tourist hotspot in the capital and not just a stadium to watch a match. “For the 2022-2023 season, we are hoping for 300,000 visitors outside match days, adds Nicolas Arndt, out of 180 days open for the Stadium Tour. And when you hear the lilting Spanish or Italian sounds this Wednesday under the tent, the recipe for the Christmas market seems to seduce beyond the Ile-de-France borders. Marta, a Spanish teenager from Zaragoza, is visiting Paris with all her family, and they dreamed of visiting the Park. “It’s really a great time to come here. The lights, the decorations and even if it’s cold, we drink a chocolate while watching where Messi, Mbappé and Neymar are playing, ”she explains in a mixture of English and French.
The Christmas market, mini version
If the majority of footballers are retained by their national team during this period, the Karabatic brothers and their PSG handball teammates were able to take advantage of this Christmas market, mini version, on Sunday evening, with the club’s employees. . This is also the case for certain companies which can privatize the place. “In 2022-2023, we are on more than 350 BtoB events”, confides Nicolas Arndt, for a total of exploitation excluding match days of more than 10 million euros generated.
To the question of the smallness of this Christmas market, PSG version, is added that, inevitable, of the expansion of the Parc des Princes, envisaged but not before 2024, at least. “Yes, of course there are several projects that will have to wait after the Olympics: hosting concerts, creating a museum, etc. The lack of space is no secret, we no longer have any free space. Except for a raclette sandwich or a competition tartiflette, accompanied by Viennese chocolate. To be enjoyed right next to the PSG lawn until December 22.