When you are a victim of your success, you sometimes have to consider radical solutions. This is what the Colmar Wine Fair achieved in 1968, with its move to the brand new Parc Expo. But until the end, we feared that it wouldn’t be ready in time.
Colmar was invited to New York in 1886, with the Statue of Liberty. Los Angeles invited itself back to Colmar in 1968. Explanations. The success of the Wine Fair and its festival grew rapidly. In the early 1960s, downtown Colmar became hell during the ten days of festivities in August. We come from far and wide to taste wine and see concerts. For organizational and security reasons, a new location was created in 1968: the Parc des Exposition. But it was ready, brand new, north of Colmar, increasing the number from 160,000 to 211,000 visitors.
With difficulties, Mr. Architect? Isn’t it too big, Mr. Wolff, commissioner of the fair? So much the better, and have you been looking for original architecture? And I think you went very far in the design, not just of the building. Oh absolutely! It’s not just the new exhibition halls, a strange structure also appears: the open-air theater, in 1968, had 6,600 seats.
This theater is nicknamed “the Shell”. Some people find fault with the aesthetics, right, Stephan Eicher ? Very appreciated by artists, it is the replica of the Hollywood Bowl, the largest natural theater in the United States, in Los Angeles. Surprisingly compared to current venues, there are no security barriers in Colmar between the artists and the public. Bénabar, it does not bother you ? This iconic open-air theater is entirely covered, but remains open at the top of the walls. And the public often scaled these same walls, overwhelming the entrances to get better seats or jump ahead. That’s how it is when you are a victim of your success.
This series was produced in partnership with theNational Audiovisual Institute and with TV7 Colmar.
The Alsace Wine Fair website.
Technical description of the open-air theater.
Alsace Wine Fair 2008 -Stephan Eicher
Alsace Wine Fair 2012 – Bénabar
Thanks to the France Bleu Alsace/Elsass technical team for their involvement.
