At the moment, two and a half million people are in the streets of Lille, between yesterday and today, with the 8,000 exhibitors of the famous Braderie de Lille. Its origins date back to the 12th century.
The social question of the day with the sociologist Jean Viard is the Lille clearance sale. About two and a half million people have been on the streets of the city since yesterday and until this evening. They stroll among the stands of 8,000 exhibitors. We also remember the immense disappointment caused by the cancellations because of the covid in 2022, 2021.
franceinfo: This Jean Viard event is immensely popular, why?
John Viard: It’s a bit like the Eiffel Tower in Lille. That’s to say ? Basically, we are in a society where we value local affiliations, traditions. The Lille brasserie is a major event where people come from afar. It’s both a clearance sale, a party, people come and eat there. There are people who won’t buy anything but who will stay for two days… Me, I compare it a bit to the Festival d’Avignon, the Feria de Nîmes or the Santons festival in Strasbourg.
In our society, there are huge events in the territories which are either very old events like the braderie, or more recent phenomena like the Avignon Festival created after the last war, and which become huge moments festive. To Avignon. There are plenty of people who come to the square, who have never been to the theater, it is not their concern. There, I believe that we are in the same question, and at the same time, it embodies a sense of belonging, a local culture, this wonderful culture of the North, this art of receiving, this art of sociability, we will say Dany Boon to make a postcard, and so effectively, that’s all.
Bowls of mussels already consumed, (the local dish) dumped in a large trash can, in the heart of the Braderie de Lille this Sunday, September 3, 2023. Visitors hunt, eat, meet up with family. This is the major event of this back to school in the Hauts de France. (FRANCOIS LO PRESTI / AFP)
So it is indeed the incarnation of a staging and a culture. And that, I believe, is a great strength for the world of Lille, which is a city which has been completely transformed, which has been carried by two successive town halls, whether it be Pierre Mauroy and Martine Aubry who have done a great deal for urban life, for its development, for the local economy. Remember ‘Lille, European Capital of Culture’. So all of this is part of the strength of the northern country and its positive strength, because we too often talk about its negative strength in terms of economic transformation or in terms of the climate.
So some might say that flea markets and clearance sales are something old. Many young people, children, go there with the grandparents. But we see that all generations are getting into it. Flea markets, garage sales are popular, is there this fiber of reuse and re-use of the second hand?
Of course, there are also the stroller holders to say that it’s not just the old ones, since we have all the things for infants. And I even believe that the Camif has just set up a fund where you rent baby things, and every two months you are given what you need for the following month. You get the idea that it’s made to be reused, repaired, reused. We are entering a culture of reuse. It was already there, for housing, for cars. The majority of people have only ever bought used cars, it’s becoming common, stylish for clothing, toys given to children.
So that means that our society has entered the climate revolution, and it is changing very quickly on this sort of thing. Before, there were modest people and for them they couldn’t buy anything else, but today there is also the elegance of the idea that the object has been worn, that it has a memory. , he lived an adventure, and basically, we continue the adventure of the inhabitant of the jacket, if we can say it like that. And that, I think, is a very beautiful image.
All driven by the success of digital platforms, we could cite Le Bon Coin, there are many others that also have a local aspect. On these platforms, we look at where the object is on sale near us. This is where the two topics come together, proximity, and what were we talking about?
Yes, but besides, proximity organizes itself. If you click, they will first suggest things around you, because obviously they know where you are. It helps to build a local society, and that’s what’s happening. It is a local and delivery company. I always say both, the people who go to the rummage sale may be part of the 21 million families who have an account with Amazon. So the two are not opposed. What we are looking for nearby is perhaps a grocery store, good local bread, look at the role of the markets when we have been able to move them in the evening and on weekends, and at the same time, we will have it delivered by Amazon, because that’s the new couple.
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