It is undoubtedly the charming asset of the capital as soon as the sunny days arrive. This year, more than 15 million visitors are expected in Paris for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Parisian terraces - including the summer terraces open from April 1 to October 31 - and catering professionals expect to be full . Better, while the latter have obtained from the City of Paris that their summer terraces, normally open until 10 p.m., can remain open until midnight, they are also delighted to be able to welcome the public all night during the ceremonies. opening and closing of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. That is, four evenings in the summer: July 26, August 11, August 28 and September 8.
Excellent news for professionals in the sector, who are working hand in hand with the Parisian municipality to participate in the great celebration that will be the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
“We are waiting for the sun, but above all we are waiting for the Olympic Games, with this authorization to remain open until midnight for more than two months, and all night during the 4 major ceremonies
,” rejoiced Frank Delvau, the president of the Union of Hospitality Trades and Industries (Umih) Île-de-France.
“The art of Parisian living is still being on a terrace,”
he says, convinced that
“many tourists will be delighted to be able to relax there during the Olympics, rather than hanging around in the street or on the quays as we saw during Covid
.
Also read “It’s unbearable”: tourism professionals stand up against negative communication around the Olympics
“Be careful of the confusion between the authorization of the opening of summer terraces until midnight permitted by the City of Paris and the opening of drinking establishments all night on the four opening and closing evenings of the Olympic Games which depends of prefectural regulations
,” explains Nicolas Bonnet, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of commerce and crafts. The elected communist underlines in fact that there was
"a mistake"
between the two announcements, which may have worried certain local residents' associations, and wishes to clarify that the establishments open exceptionally all night for the 4 major dates of the Olympic Games will not necessarily have terraces.
A strong attachment, despite the abuse
In any case, the prospect of organizing this global event in Paris now appears - after the first fears of significant traffic restrictions - as a boon for the sector. This is also the opinion of Pascal Mousset, president of the Groupement des hôtelleries et catering (GHR) Île-de-France, who believes that
“the terraces are a Parisian breath”
in a city where many live in small apartments . This week, he revealed the results of a study commissioned from Ifop on the relationship Parisians have with their terraces. And the result is clear: 96% say they go there at least once a year, including more than half at least once a week (52%).
According to this same study, 81% of Parisians also say they are in favor of the summer terraces being open until midnight during the Olympics, with up to 93% even believing that they will be
“frequented”
on this occasion, and 66 % to imagine them
“crowded”
. Figures which do not please local residents' associations, many of whom believe that summer terraces do not respect the rules laid down by the Regulations for displays and terraces (RET). In their sights in particular, the summer terraces which do not respect the time limits and remain open after 10 p.m.
“All this to satisfy 3% of consumers and ruin the sleep of 100% of residents in the densest city in Europe
,” denounces the Droit au Sommeil collective of Paris Center.
1,607 fines for noise pollution in 2023
“How much do you bet that in a spirit of conviviality, the bistros will put on little musical events like Fête de la Musique to brighten up the terraces? That street musicians will take turns from terrace to terrace with their accordion and their speakers?
, is already worried by a Parisian, while another is convinced that
“100% of the residents of these summer terraces are opposed to their opening until midnight”
. If there are many abuses, particularly in the most touristy districts of the capital, Pascal Mousset believes that they are low, and that all the professionals who did not play the game
“have lost their authorization for summer terraces”
. In 2023, 1,607 fines for noise pollution were still issued in Paris, according to City figures, knowing that there are
“nearly 5,000 brasseries, bars and cafes”
in the capital according to Apur.
In a recent study, the Parisian Urban Planning Workshop counts more than 4,000 summer terraces, which - as it recalls -
"are authorized on sidewalks, in parking spaces and on medians, squares and street pavements pedestrians
. This makes it possible to distinguish three types of summer terraces: 1657 are installed on the sidewalk, 2223 on the parking lot and 214 terraces on the roadway or median. Knowing that a single establishment
“can have several summer terraces”
. And if it is in Paris Center that we find more summer terraces on the sidewalks, it is in the 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th and 17th that there are
“proportionally the most terraces on parking lots”
.