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Lina Tran
Published on
Nov. 6, 2024 at 2:30 p.m.
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The organizers expected around 20,000 people for this new edition of the Samhain Festival. In the end, these are approximately 25,000 people – according to the organizers – who visited Bernay (Eure) from Thursday October 31 to Sunday November 3, 2024. The demonstration took a greater magnitudeto the delight of Bernay’s restaurateurs, traders and hoteliers. They are the first to benefit fallout from the festival.
Visitors from everywhere
“Can we do the same thing for Christmas?” », asks Lisa Vitiello, the manager of the La ganache mon’thé tea room, rue Gaston-Folloppe, with a smile. And yet, the first two days of the festival were intense for his entire team,
The apprentice and the trainee were not too much. We will know that there must be at least four next year.
At the restaurant La petite galitrelle, near the village hall, the Dewi Darré team is used to welcoming up to 80 guests, “ but of the people over the four days, we didn’t see that coming. Even on Sunday, he describes. I saw that from Wednesday, people were present for the festival.”
“Three years ago, I was skeptical,” admits Jean-Marie Roux, owner of the restaurants La quintessence and Carpé diem. However, now he strongly believes in the festival.
We were overwhelmed, it’s a great success.
The chef of one of the two restaurants told him that he had never worked so well for a week.
One of the evenings of the festival, the waiters had to refuse 50 people at La quintessence, the establishment can accommodate up to 38 guests per service. Thus, Jean-Marie Roux’s two restaurants served between 130 and 150 seats per service.
“We should do activities like that every weekend,” jokes Jean-Marie Roux, already thinking about next year’s organization.
An observation shared by the Hôtel du Lion d’or located on rue du Général-de-Gaulle. The accommodation was almost full two months before the event “and some people stayed four/five days”. Compared to last year, the hotel received more festival-goers than exhibitors.
“Some had to take a hotel in Lisieux,” said Jacques Gosselin, who saw around 250 people parade in his horse-drawn carriage. The latter shuttled between the town hall square and the association house transformed into a little wizards’ village for the occasion.
This whole crowd came from all over France (and Europe): Southerners, Northerners, Bretons, Charentais, Eurois, but also Belgians and English.
Make the city move
The majority of downtown merchants played the Halloween game. Ghosts, spiders and witches have adorned their windows. “We are used to decorating our storefront. We were already excited by the idea of the festival. It is this type of event that allows to revitalize our city center. It’s important,” underlines the manager of La ganache mon’thé which opened on Thursday for the occasion.
In addition to its special Halloween evening, the restaurant La petite galitrelle actively participated in the candy hunt. “I distributed nearly 30 kg, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. When we see this kind of event, it’s normal to participate and play the game, comments Dewi Darré who took over the business last March.
We have had clients tell us that they are thinking about coming to live in Bernay. » “I am very very very very satisfied with the event, described with a smile by Jacques Gosselin, who has participated in the festival since the first edition. It also allows our city to shine.” A sentence that should delight the mayor of Bernay.
Coralie Maux-Renard and Lina Tran
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