By MC Nouvellon
Posted on Oct 2, 20 at 7:19 am
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If the fairground of Havre (Seine-Maritime) resonates again with the noise of the jingles of the machines and the cries of the valiant visitors who embarked on board the biggest rides, the Saint-Michel fair in this fall 2020, takes on particular paces. First because health crisis obliges, the smell of croustillons and cotton candy is filtered by the mask that (almost) everyone wears on the nose, but especially because the Covid-19 seems to have sparse the aisles of the fun fair.
“A lot less families”
In the “25-30 years” that she has held her stand here, Violette does not remember ever having seen this. Installed in front of a thrill ride which turns half empty at the beginning of the afternoon, its duck fishing did not have the success hoped for these first days of the fair: “There is a bit of Covid , a little bad weather, and also a little lack of money, estimates the fairground. In any case, we see a lot less family. “
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However, even if she plague against the mask – “with that, we do not understand what people say” – she complies with the sanitary rules. Putting on her visor as soon as young visitors approach her brightly colored ducks, she specifies that she disinfects the fishing rods between each visit. “A whole protocol has been put in place, with distances, masks, disinfectant…” confirms Patrick Vancraeyenest, the president of the fairgrounds.
We want people to come to the party, not to be sick. We did everything we could to make it go well.
Entry limited to 1,000 people
Another measure imposed by the health context: the limitation of the number of visitors. Friday evening, September 25, a few hours before the opening of the Saint-Michel, a new decree of the prefecture has revised this gauge downward: from 5,000 people, it has fallen to 1,000. .
“At 5,000, we could have had our party normally, regrets Patrick Vancraeyenest. We have a kilometer of alleys, eight meters wide, that’s almost a hectare, he calculates. People can come without being crowded. To allow visitors to come more spaced out, the opening hours have been extended: the fair runs until 11 p.m. all week.
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“At Disney or Puy-du-Fou, they are not limited to 1,000 people, them …” sighs Laura Mylord. From her stand where all kinds of cuddly toys are enthroned, she confides that these first days “are a little sad”.
I have been coming here for 28 years. My mother, my grandmother also came before. But this year, we see fewer families, the little kids are there but they are necessarily more attracted by the big attractions than my cuddly toys.
“If we have a second year like that, we are dead”
Because after “six months of dry bread”, everyone needs to work again. “There, I am only at my fourth fair of the year, whereas I usually have around thirty, explains the boss of the Andgy Boy, behind his shooting range. So I am on a more than modest budget, everything is bad. If we have a second year like that, we’re dead. »Drawing a zero with his fingers when he mentions the passage on his merry-go-round since the beginning of the week, he continues.
At one point, it takes people for it to be profitable and for it to turn out.
The location, the electricity, the advertising… If the visits decrease, the charges do not decrease. “In front of me, I have a young boy who has just bought a children’s merry-go-round. The drafts, we will have to pay them, ”adds Patrice Piel, at the helm of the Ice Palace. “I have been self-employed since 1982, and I have never experienced a crisis like this. “
Concern around Saint-Romain
And the future does not seem to want to brighten up. On many lips, the concern over the possibility of cancellation of the Saint-Romain in Rouen, one of the largest in France, resurfaces. Because if the Le Havre fair brings together 100 fairgrounds, they are normally 300 to make the trip to Rouen. With this same gauge set at 1,000 people, it’s hard to imagine a profitable configuration for the same event.
“If they remove it, you don’t see all the dry bread it’ll do,” Violette fears. At 86, the fairground is worried about the future of her children. “I pity the youth… Fairground life is not easy, we do not ride on gold. And we don’t know how to do anything other than our job. “
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