A prestigious venue in Paris

Musée des arts
forains

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Musée des Arts Forains

Setting

« Become the actor of your own dreams in the land of past festivities » Jean Paul Favand

This millstone building, designed at the end of the 19th century by one of Gustave Eiffel’s apprentices now houses the replica of an ancient funfair with merry-go-rounds and attractions. It was the first room to be created in the Pavillons de Bercy.

This unusual and unique venue in Paris offers many different configurations. Its adjustable structure, enables you to enjoy a pre-dinner drink in one side of the room and have dinner in the other. It can also be dedicated entirely to a cocktail reception. The room is perfect for any kind of event: conventions, gala dinners, corporate events, award ceremonies, anniversaries, weddings and many more.

The opportunity to ride the centenary merry-go-rounds will provide your guests with an unforgettable experience. Several other attractions will test their skills and dexterity. Upon entering the site, they will be transported back to the 1900’s, the golden age of funfairs.

Capacity

Seated meal

Up to 600 guests

cocktail reception

Up to 880 guests

Theater

Up to 400 guests

Size 1800m²

Capacity 880 guests

Adding a room : you can increase the capacity by adding another room (the Salons Vénitiens, the Théâtre du Merveilleux or the Magic Mirror)

Adding an outdoor area : The private garden-street – 800 sqm

Rates : Rental fees are quoted upon request, according to the number of guests, the time of the year and the chosen options.

Fairground attractions, shows and artists

Fairground attractions and games

Fairground face cut out boards

Disguise yourself in the blink of an eye by inserting your head into one of our face boards, and take unforgettable pictures
Strength tester

The torpedo boat is launched on the rails aiming at a destroyer. The objective is to push the boat as hard as you can.
Japanese and Dutch billiards

Despite their name, Japanese billiards come from France. Points are accumulated by throwing balls into numbered circles
The objective of the Dutch shuffleboard table is to slide the wooden pucks throught any of the board's four numbered slots.
Throwing game and shooting gallery

This 1935 throwing game represent figures of an old French cartoon. Aim at the head to make them tip over.
This ingenious shooting gallery uses the mechanism of a mouse-trap. Once activated by the target, a candy is launched to the player.
German swing boats

These swings, built for adults, are the oldest attractions in funfairs. They were made in 1920 in Germany and were featured in the Munich fair.
Course de Garçons de Café (waiter's race)

This standout attraction pays tribute to the race that used to take place every year on the Champs Elysées. The waiters had to run 8km as fast as possible with three filled glasses.
Velocipede ride

This 1897 bicycle roundabout used to be steam powered but is now propelled by the rider's own effort.
Carousel

The mixed cavalry of French and German horses of this early 1900s carouselwill enable you to become a horseback rider.

Fairground face cut out boards

face board n°1

face board n°2

face board n°3

Strength tester

Japanese and Dutch billiards

Stands de Billards du Musée des Arts Forains

General view of the billiards booth

Dutch shuffleboard table (Dutch billiard)

Billards Japonais au Musée des Arts Forains

Japanese billiards

Japanese billiards

Throwing game and shooting gallery

German swing boats

Course de Garçons de Café (waiter's race)

Velocipede ride

Carousel

Shows

Hooguys organ

Built in 1905 to announce the arrival of funfairs in villages, this instrument will welcome your guests with its powerful flutes.

Artists

We can give you a catalogue of artists to choose from for a live performance:

Trapezists, stilt-walkers, jugglers, acrobats, mimes, fire breathers, magiciens, musicians, and orchestras who can greet your guests and animate your event.

Discover our live performers

History

The Atmosphere of Salons Carousels

The Musée des Arts Forains was the first site to be installed in the Pavillons de Bercy in 1996. It renders the atmosphere of former Salons-Carousels. Behind a beautifully sculpted and imposing facade, a spacious and luxurious covered salon would shelter an organ, a ballroom, a brasserie, attractions and a carousel. There were over thirty nomad monuments of the kind travelling through Europe from one funfair to another in the 1900s.

Extraordinary events

Everything here is designed to feel once more the warm atmosphere of these convivial places.
As guests walk through the theatre curtains they will enter and become actors of a reconstituted Salon Carousel. In the entrance of the Museum, they are welcomed by two majestic statues and a 1905 organ. The venue’s display is also a tribute to Baroque, abounding with fairground art artifacts inspired by the luxuriousness and imaginative atmosphere of this style.

All the ancient pieces that are present bear witness to the work done by the restorers in our workshops. The booths, velocipede carousel and wooden horse merry go round have been restored to full working condition enabling the discovery of this unusual lively museum through playing and amusement.

The birth of funfairs

Until the 18th century, fairs were privileged spaces for trade and commerce; in the 19th century, they became spaces for entertainment. An entirely new social phenomenon was born: the Funfair. Funfairs not only spread innovations of the industrial era, but also offered an escapade into a world of freedom and dreams. One could discover a great number of attractions : strange physics experiments, popular science, art museums, wax museums, historical and ethnographical museums, fairground zoos… and arious forms of shows that preceded of modern entertainment such as French Théâtre de Boulevard, sport shows, cabarets, musicals, illusionists…and also the movies.

In the golden days of the Belle Époque, people were amazed by Funfairs. Crowds discovered curiosities from all over the world displayed in live shows, at a time when television and global tourism did not yet exist.

It is this lively atmosphere, inviting to a motionless journey into daydream that Jean Paul Favand wanted to recreate in this room, to confer a completely different extent to your special event right in the middle of Paris.

Tech specifications

Total size : 1800sqm

Lighting : 16-channel DMX console controlling 4 scenic lighting zones. Scripted lighting with over 300 sources of light. Customisable according to the event.

Sound : Multi-zone diffusion Nexo / Line Array and PS 10 + Yamaha MTX 5 Processor that enables conferences and DJ usage with a 92 dB limiter / HF Mic
Our sound system is compulsory for dance nights.

Included personnel : a manager and security agent(s)

Other : room adapted for video projections.
Wi-Fi
Ground floor load-in
Prep area with sink (lift)

DOWNLOADS

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Directions

By car

Easy access from the Boulevard Périphérique ( exit at Porte de Bercy ) and from the Voie Georges Pompidou
By metro

Line 14 Station : Cour St Emilion – 5 minutes away from the Châtelet
By bus

Lines 24, 109 and 111 – Bus stop : Terroirs de France
Parking Indigo (3000 spaces)

Saint-Emilion : 12 Place des Vins de France, 75012 Paris
+33 (0) 1 44 68 89 59
Bercy Coach Parking

Bercy Cars : 6 rue des Pirogues de Bercy, 75012 Paris
+33 (0) 1 44 68 89 59
Bercy Autocars : 210 quai de Bercy, 75012 Paris
+33 (0) 1 43 47 00 01
Accessibility

Disabled access
Please note that a cobbled street connects our different rooms

Musée des arts forains

Salons Vénitiens

Théâtre du merveilleux

Magic Mirror