“We put Canal Plus in a bit of trouble,” smiles Emmanuelle Herichard, the director of Brest Expo, the Penfeld exhibition center. On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, from 6:30 p.m., the hall will welcome more than 5,000 people for the Barça-SB29 Champions League match. “They first referred us to UEFA, which referred us to Canal Plus. There was some back and forth as it was the first time they had a request for a Champions League fan zone! “.
Proof of Brestois' enthusiasm for the club's epic, the event has been sold out for several days. The encrypted channel, well aware of the exceptional nature of the match, made no difficulty in allowing its retransmission. “The decoder arrived on Friday, so that’s good! “. All that remained was to install everything.
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2 A screen 8 m high and 15 m wide
This Monday morning, the teams from Audiolite, the Brest Expo service provider, were hard at work setting up the giant screen, or rather the tarpaulin on which the match will be projected. “At 8m high and 15m wide, everyone should be able to see. In any case, with 9 m of ceiling in hall 1, we couldn't make it bigger,” notes the director, who also announces good image quality with “the best in overhead projectors”.
If entry is free upon registration for spectators, the estimated budget has been estimated at €50,000. The cost is shared equally between the City of Brest and Brest'Aim, which manages the equipment, including Brest Expo.
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3 Drinking and eating… according to UEFA rules
“We wanted to make it like a giant bar where people can meet up with family, friends or colleagues,” explains Emmanuelle Herichard. 1,400 seats (and 164 reserved by companies at the foot of the screen) are therefore planned in the center of the room, around tables. On the sides and at the back, room to stand and a few high tables to place your drink.
But be careful, there is no question of drinking Breton. “It is UEFA which sets the rules,” recalls the director. It is therefore the sponsors of the competition who will be served: Heineken (with or without alcohol), white wine and drinks from PepsiCo (Pepsi, IceTea, Seven up). “And that’s it.”
For drinks and catering, UEFA sets the rules
For catering too, it will be without local food trucks. Two caterers will offer pancakes (all the same!), hamburgers, hot dogs and salads, but under a white label. There is no question of displaying their name without the authorization of the European football organization.
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4 A quiz to wait
Canal Plus is scheduled to go on air at 8:30 p.m. “We decided to open the doors at 6:30 p.m. so that people can come directly after work. Especially since there will not be seats for everyone,” says the director. To keep people waiting for the expected red and white tide, Brest Expo has planned an event. “Grégory Pelleau, the announcer from Stade Brestois, will be there with Hervé Ugo to offer a quiz with prizes to be won.”
For this evening, beyond a good result for SB29, “at least one point”, the director hopes that the spectators will take the shuttles set up by Bibus from the Strasbourg square. “Otherwise, the exit risks being jammed!” », she fears.
