Toulouse: at the new Parc des Expositions, not enough parking spaces to accommodate the Toulouse Game Show crowd
The Toulouse Game Show welcomed 70,000 visitors on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 November at the new MEETT exhibition center in Toulouse-Aussonne. The influx of spectators, especially on Saturday, highlighted the poor balance between users of the car, and public transport. With the key a congestion of the car park, however equipped with 3000 places …
The 14th Toulouse Game Show celebrated its premiere at the new MEETT Exhibition Center, with a record and traffic jams. 70,000 visitors over two days is “a huge success,” said Frédéric Devèze, the boss of TGS Events, yesterday. The organizer of the meeting for lovers of video games, TV series and Japanese culture, however, expects such an influx. “The other events, and in particular the Paris convention, at the beginning of November, had recorded 20 to 30% more visitors”. From there to experiencing the congestion of the new Exhibition Center … “Between 9 am and 10:30 am, it’s a tidal wave of 10,000 to 12,000 people to absorb. It’s huge, in such a short time. .. “The organizer had mobilized his teams from 7 am (!) In the morning to welcome the spectators. “Validating the tickets, the health pass, carrying out the search, it takes time. So before the doors opened, we did all this, then people were in a buffer space, before the opening at 9:30 … “
Outside the Exhibition Center, however, big traffic jams are formed. Several hundred visitors had to park their cars on the aisles and roundabouts. The nuisances for residents are lifts to Beauzelle and Aussonne. “There were clusters of spectators walking on the road and in the mud, and when arriving at the MEETT, we had to go through the floor of the parking lot, we were prohibited from entering the ground floor” , testifies a Toulousain. How did we get there, in a brand new exhibition center normally sized to accommodate gauges of this type …
The tram and bus n ° 30 not used enough
The manager of the MEETT (who was not the organizer of the TGS) regrets the under-use of public transport to get to the event. “Bus n ° 30 and the tram line arrive at the foot of the Parc des Expositions. Or, their use remains rather marginal,” laments a spokesperson. Regarding the capacity of the car park – 3,000 places all the same – Toulouse Events says it is looking for additional car parks, for certain large events. Will it be necessary to “borrow” certain car parks (Airbus?) Nearby to satisfy spectators in the future?
“In Toulouse, no other event welcomes so many people over such a short period of time”
For Frédéric Devèze, the MEETT is a “magnificent tool”, and “despite the anticipation, the organization of flows, we cannot regulate everything”. “When you enter a parking lot, you are necessarily slowed down, so if 200 or 300 cars arrive at the same time, a traffic jam forms. There are roundabouts with other users than the MEETT spectators, directional blocks en arriving at the parking lot, so we slow down and that’s normal “. The boss of the TGS urges the spectators of the editions to come by public transport, and reminds “that no other show in Toulouse welcomes so many people over such a short period of time”.
“Sunday, there was no problem, the visitors spread out more during the day, and the parking lot was never full”, assures Frédéric Devèze. “I arrived at 10:15 am by car, and I had no problem, says Sylvain, who came to TGS for the first time with his son. There were really a lot of people in the halls, but with a great atmosphere. I will come back, maybe by tram next time “. For a Blagnacais, this can be a good idea …
Thank you to all the noob present at the tgs you were super nice a great meeting !! @Olydri_Noob @Olydri_Fournier https://t.co/GkI2t6A5gO pic.twitter.com/QOg4B1Mvi6
– Spouky Fosk #KF (@SpoukyFosk) November 29, 2021
70,000 visitors, a record for the Toulouse Game Show
“I have never had so much positive feedback on the networks after a TGS”. The patron of the event, Frédéric Devèze, welcomed 70,000 people in two days, a record after the 63,000 in 2019, in the former Exhibition Center. “There was a real expectation after the white year of 2020, people were happy to meet again, the atmosphere was happy.” And the MEETT, its large alleys, its hall of a single tenant – facing the innumerable airlocks and doors of the former Exhibition Park – delighted the participants. The next edition will take place on November 26 and 27, and for the 15th anniversary, the TGS promises an “even richer” program than this year. In the meantime, the TGS Montpellier will be held at the end of March 2022, and the TGS Springbreak returns on May 15, 2022 in Diagora Labège.