To the delight of visitors, the Musée des Arts Forains is inviting us to take part in a very special weekend this year, on the occasion of the European Heritage Days 2024. Young and old alike can take part, on Saturday September 21 and Sunday September 22, 2024.
It's time for a fun and unusual guided tour. Accompanied by actor-guides, you'll enjoy a 1? hour stroll through one of the world's largest collections of entertainment objects, curiosities and fairground art, staged around the themes of curiosity cabinets, the Venetian carnival, extraordinary gardens and the Belle Époque funfair.
This playful stroll is enlivened by a number of impromptu shows, adding to the festive spirit of this unique museum.
These Heritage Day visits are also an opportunity to discover and understand the preservation and restoration work carried out by the Musée des Arts forains staff, who care for many of the show's heritage objects. Meet the museum's restorers in front of the workshops.
Itinerancy: the essence of the fairground world
If there's one notion that's closely associated with the world of fairgrounds and fairgoers, it's itinerancy. Who hasn't waited for the return of a funfair, watched the convoys of ever more impressive rides go by, or admired the ease with which ever larger rides can be built? Who hasn't wondered about the organization of a caravan, or what the carnies did when they were out of town?
The funfair as we know it today has its roots in the Belle Epoque. For almost 150 years, the fairs we know today have been returning, almost unchanging, on the same date in the same place. And ever since, like the agricultural fairground merchants of the Middle Ages, fairground workers have been traveling from fairground to fairground, ten months out of the year.
This nomadic life is the framework for adaptation: how to make rides demountable, develop means of transport, build a social life, or even go to school? We'd like to give you an insight into this way of life, through a talk illustrated by numerous archive documents and objects from our collections.
Please note that this lecture does not give access to the rooms of the Pavillons de Bercy -Musée des Arts Forains.
Les Pavillons de Bercy - Musée des Arts Forains are offering guided tours at preferential rates for everyone to coincide with the 2024 Youth Olympic Games. This show museum houses a collection of 19th-century show and funfair artefacts to be discovered on a lively tour.
The guided tour is open to all, but is aimed at older children.
For the rest of the year, the museum must be booked in advance and does not offer self-guided tours. It also organizes a festival in December, with a program of short-form shows to celebrate the end-of-year festivities.
Dates and Opening Time
From September 21, 2024 to September 22, 2024
Location
Musée des Arts Forains
Les Pavillons de Bercy - 53 avenue des Terroirs de France
75012 Paris 12
Prices
-4ans: Free
Tarif unique: €12
Official website
arts-forains.com
More information
Opening hours: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
