The Place de la Concorde, an iconic Parisian landmark, is set to host a village dedicated to rugby throughout the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023.
The Paris Rugby Village will officially open its doors on Friday 8 September at 14:00, to coincide with the opening match between France and New Zealand at 21:15. A concert on the main stage will kick off festivities. This will be a unique opportunity to experience rugby right in the heart of Paris!
Pierre Rabadan, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of Sport, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Seine, had previously unveiled the Paris Rugby Village programme and the city’s accessibility and eco-responsibility commitments.
The Paris Rugby Village will include a rugby entertainment and promotional area, plus two giant screens to broadcast World Cup matches. The number of screens will increase to four for the opening match on 8 September between France and New Zealand!
Visitors can enjoy entertainment and discovery areas, photo booths, the official France 2023 shop, exhibitions, and a central stage that will host the opening show as well as DJ sets and sporting and cultural performances. Catering areas and the ‘Bouillon’ restaurant chain will be available for Parisians and visitors seeking refreshment.
The Paris Rugby Village has the capacity to welcome 15,000 visitors, and up to 39,000 on the opening day. If the French team qualifies for the finals, the village team will mobilise another 120 volunteers, including disabled support.
Radio RMC will produce their radio programmes LIVE, including their flagship ‘Le Super Moscato Show’ at their stand in the village which is open to the public.
PLAYERS COMMITED TO OFFERING SPORTING AND FESTIVE EVENTS FOR ALL
The CAPSAAA association, which enables disabled people to take part in a wide range of sporting activities, will be organising introductory wheelchair rugby sessions with two professional athletes every day from 14:00-19:00. The 20-minute workshops will be open to ten adults and children.
The Ile-de-France Regional Rugby League, the Comité Départemental 75 and clubs from Paris and the Ile-de-France region will be offering events throughout the village, from 14:00-19:00. The rugby pitch will be divided into three workshops: a motor skills course, a team challenge and touch rugby. The 15-minute sessions will be open to ten people per workshop – adults or children – for a total of 600 people per day. The city will also be inviting its priority target groups to come and learn how to play rugby via local clubs, associations and players (schools, crèches, social and medico-social centres, senior clubs, Maison Départementale pour les Personnes Handicapées, etc.).
A VILLAGE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL…
Designed in the shape of an oval ball, the village will be fully accessible and adapted for people with reduced mobility. The traffic in the village, the catering areas, the broadcasting zones and the entertainment and initiation areas will all be accessible to people with disabilities. The Paris Rugby Village has been designed to enable all Parisians and visitors to celebrate this international event, held for the first time in France.
… AND RESPECTFUL OF THE ENVIRONMENT
The City of Paris is pursuing a resolute policy to combat plastic pollution. Its ambitious target is to phase out single-use plastic by 2024.
The Paris Rugby Village is part of this ambition and will implement several measures:
- Procedures to reduce uneaten food waste, to enforce the use of eco-responsible and compostable containers, traceability of products and suppliers, and the recovery of organic/specific waste including frying oils.
- In the catering areas, all the containers used will be eco-responsible, thanks to a partnership with De Facto, an expert in eco-responsible food packaging. Once used, these containers will be recycled and repurposed by Moulinot, a company that sorts, collects and recycles food waste.
- In collaboration with Eau de Paris, water fountains will be set up in the village.
- Vegetarian, gluten-free, lactose-free and nut-free alternatives will be on offer at the various food stands.
- An area 100% dedicated to eco-responsibility, run by the company Les Connexions, will be offering educational and hands-on workshops, prototype exhibitions, and two events: The long life of waste and The sorting wheel.
Daily, workshops will be available for all ages to promote sustainable development:
- La Recyclerie Sportive, a not-for-profit association with public-interest missions in the fields of sport and sustainable development, will be offering Do It Yourself workshops on 12 of the 25 days it is open: making upcycled bracelets out of tyres, earrings out of inner tubes, creating dreamcatchers out of bicycle rims, etc.
- The Recycling Rugby association will be offering educational workshops on creating key rings from ball scraps.
PREVENTION CAMPAIGNS
The Tackle HIV campaign bus, created last year to raise public and media awareness of HIV, will be setting up in front of the village and open for discussions with the public. Outside the bus, information on HIV and photos of Gareth Thomas, former rugby player and figurehead of the Tackle HIV campaign, will be on display.
With the support of World Rugby, the bus will be touring France throughout September, stopping off at the Paris Rugby Village during the opening weekend, with Gareth Thomas in attendance.
WHERE, WHEN AND HOW DO I GET THERE?
The Paris Rugby Village will be open to the public free of charge from 8 September to 28 October on Thursdays during French team matches and every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 14:00 to 23:30. It will be set up in the eastern part of the Place de la Concorde – which will be closed to traffic – between the Tuileries Gardens and the centre of the square. The east side of the square will be closed to traffic from 9 August, with two-way traffic on the west side.
The set-up of the Paris Rugby Village will begin on 9 August with the installation of the official shop (which will open earlier) and will continue until 23 August. Set-up and dismantling will be carried out during the week and will not run later than 22:00 to limit impact on residents. The landmark lampposts around the Place de la Concorde will be removed and stored for the duration of the Paris Rugby Village.
