Puy du Fou voluntarily excluded from the Culture pass? The ineligibility of the Vendée park for the government system has sparked controversy in recent days, since the National Rally (RN) deputy for Val-d'Oise Anne Sicard denounced last Wednesday a “real scandal” and castigated an offer which “makes the gives pride of place to American blockbusters and escape games.”
During the hearing of Sébastien Chevalier, president of the Pass Culture company, before the cultural affairs committee of the National Assembly, the elected official did not mince her words. “Live shows are the great failure of the Culture pass with a ridiculously low rate of less than 2% of expenses,” she exclaimed, citing the “banning” of the Vendée park known for its historical shows, insisting on the fact that it was crowned “best show in the world”.
Puy du Fou soon eligible?
This Friday, it was the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati who was in turn questioned on the subject in the Senate by Les Républicains (LR) senator Max Brisson. “There are shows which are excluded a little automatically,” admitted the minister, assuring that she wanted to refound the strategic committee of the Culture pass which “lacks diversity”.
Concerning the Puy du Fou, Rachida Dati admitted that the Ministry of Culture had not responded to the request from the Vendée amusement park, ensuring that it had asked its services to examine the file. “I want them to be answered – without anticipating the answer – and that they become eligible for the Culture pass, particularly on the individual part,” she said.
The status of the park in question
The Culture pass allows young people aged 15 to 18 to benefit from an individual credit of up to 300 euros to access cultural activities or goods. Live shows – such as dance, musicals or theater – are indeed affected by the system, but not amusement parks like Puy du Fou.
“Today, Puy du Fou is not actually on the Culture pass, because it is considered an amusement park, and amusement parks are not eligible for the Culture pass,” confirmed the president of the Culture Pass Sébastien Cavalier, interviewed before the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education of the National Assembly. On its website, Puy du Fou defines itself as the “best amusement park in the world”.
-“We are a park of live shows,” insisted Nicolas de Villiers, president of Puy du Fou, to Valeurs Actuelles, urging decision-makers at the Ministry of Culture to carry out an audit of the park. “We have been informed that leisure parks are not eligible for the Culture pass. Fine, but live shows with a Siret number are. We have a Siret number and we offer live shows, he continued. So what is the criterion that motivated the refusal? I can't answer you. »
The Culture pass already pinned
Via a new cut of 50 million euros to the Culture budget, the envelope of the system was reduced by 35 million euros by the Senate. “I do not want this tool to become (…) a check which would ultimately only serve to lead to a consumerist objective”, explained Rachida Dati, evoking avenues for improvement, such as “taking into account the conditions of resources” families.
Last December, the Court of Auditors had already criticized the Culture pass because of its operation, but also its impact considered limited – despite a cost of 244 million euros per year. It revealed in particular that 16 million euros had been spent on escape game activities. The system was set up four years ago by Emmanuel Macron in order to encourage the diversity of cultural practices.
Puy du Fou, a controversial park
In “Le Puy du Faux” (Ed. Les Arènes, 2022), four historians – Florian Besson, Pauline Ducret, Guillaume Lancereau and Mathilde Larrère – criticize the numerous historical errors, anachronisms and untruths present in the theme park shows, denouncing promoting a vision of France that they consider outdated. They also consider that the park exaggerates controversial theses, such as that of the “Vendean genocide”.
The France 2 program “Complément d’investigation” also broadcast an issue in September 2023 devoted to Puy du Fou, “its secrets, its particular methods, its economic model, its political influence”. The journalists notably trace how the park was able to prosper by saving “millions thanks to its not always paid labor force”.
