It’s an uncommon choice. For “security concerns,” the Paris Agricultural Show decided to shut its doors two hours earlier than scheduled on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. At the conclusion of the afternoon, visitors who had already purchased tickets at the entrance were rudely turned away.

“It’s disastrous. We haven’t been able to get back since 4:30. Sami Honein, a 38-year-old Parisian who was stranded outside with his partner, stated that there is no place to get reimbursed. Loudspeaker announcements urged people to return the following day.

Is it a result of disorganization? The director of the International Agricultural Show, Jean-Luc Poulain, said this Sunday morning on RMC, “No, we were just captives of our success. On that day, we had over 50,000 entries and over 100,000 total admissions. Since the bought ticket (valid for 9 days) has no expiration date, we are unable to forecast how many people will attend the performance.

“Consider something else”

According to Jean-Luc Poulain, “perhaps it will be necessary to date the ticket day by day, to think about something else,” in order to avoid this hiccup occurring again. “Anyhow, this is the first time in the Agricultural Show’s existence that we have had to shut the doors two hours in advance because security could no longer be guaranteed in the aisles in the event of a crowd movement.

More than 700,000 people attended the show during its entire run in 2014, breaking the previous attendance mark. For the first time since the Covid-19 epidemic, they were around 500,000 last year. This remains the objective for this year. However, does the attendance on Saturday signal a new record? Jean-Luc Poulain responds, “I would be astonished because we have had more than 100,000 days. Every day, we receive anywhere between 50,000 and 100,000 visits.

The performance, which debuted on February 25, returned on Sunday at 9 a.m. for its final day.