Deconfinement: the fairgrounds are still waiting for a recovery date, planned blockages

Zoos will reopen on May 19, amusement parks gradually from June 9.

On the other hand, no prospect of recovery is announced for the fairgrounds.

The government seems to have forgotten the 50,000 professionals in the sector, whose activity is in full swing from May to Christmas.

In 2020, already, 80% of their events had been canceled because of the Covid-19 health crisis.

And the activity has been at a complete standstill since October 30.

Faced with this situation, Xavier Saguet, founding member of the Federation of fairgrounds of France, promises "renewable demonstrations across France, starting with ten blocking points from the weekend of Ascension", as what was organized last October.

The fairgrounds feel “completely forgotten”, despite four consultation meetings since January.

Coming out of the last one, on May 4, with the cabinet of the Minister for SMEs Alain Griset and the parties and circuses working group of the interministerial crisis unit, Xavier Saguet understood that “everything was called into question and that even the safety gauge of 4 m2 per person in the open air was not recorded ”.

A need for "concrete measures"

The Saint-Jean celebrations, expected in June all over France, are in peril. The fairgrounds are working on that of Strasbourg and Château-Thierry, on June 29. Summer in the North, the ducasses, regional popular festivals, are in full swing. The town of Fourmies, in solidarity with this profession, had maintained its own in 2020 from July 10 to 20.

“Some mayors immediately canceled their fair, we contact them to meet them, reassure them about health protocols. We want to save the Fête des Loges in Saint-Germain-en-Laye at the end of June, to convince Toulouse to maintain its September festivities which it has just canceled, ”explains Xavier Saguet. “Once we have the national green light from the government, we have to convince the mayors locally every time,” he explains. It's tiring ". He said he was in a hurry to receive concrete reopening measures. “We remain, with discotheques, the only prohibited profession, the others are subject to restrictions. We need concrete recovery measures very quickly. "