The big picnic on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, photos and video

A giant picnic on the Champs-Élysées - that's the unusual event that took place this Sunday, May 26, 2024. After the giant cinema and then the biggest dictation, nearly 4,000 people won the right to lunch on the gingham tablecloth set up on the world's most beautiful avenue.

Unusual, Paris hosted a one-of-a-kind experience: a huge picnic on the famous Champs-Élysées avenue. This Sunday, May 26, 2024, the event brought together around 4,000 participants around a tablecloth spread between Rue Arsène Houssaye and Avenue George V.

Having already transformed the Champs-Élysées into a cinema and record-breaking venue for a giant dictation, Ubi Bene and the Comité Champs-Élysées have come up with a new initiative: a free picnic open to all. Registrations for this totally free event generated no less than 273,000 registrations on the platform.

Participants, drawn by lot this Tuesday, May 21, didn't have to worry about a thing at this giant picnic, where everything was taken care of: filled baskets, delicious victuals, comfortable cushions and fun activities. On the program, 8 ephemeral kitchens run by local restaurateurs shared out the picnickers drawn at random. Each restaurant followed a common set of specifications, proposing a menu reflecting its culinary identity. From Flora Danica and Café Joyeux to Ladurée and Fouquet's, the menus were all different.

Two services were scheduled, at 12 noon and 2 p.m., to make the most of the avenue, which was exceptionally pedestrianized from Place de l'Étoile to Georges V for the afternoon. And one thing's for sure: the participants were definitely there.

Discover the Grand pique-nique des Champs-Élysées on video :

The guest of honor at this exceptional event was chef Guillaume Gomez, Meilleur Ouvrier de France and former head chef at the Élysée Palace. Today, he promotes French-style dining around the world. There's nothing more French than a picnic on a checkered tablecloth!

An eco-responsible setting

Note that the event was designed to be eco-responsible: the 4,212-square-meter, 216-meter-long tablecloth, decorated with red and white checks, was made from 100% recycled fabrics. Efforts were also made to minimize the environmental impact of the event, with sorting garbage cans available and water fountains to refill participants' water bottles, in collaboration with Eau de Paris. There was no wastage either, as the association Le Chaînon manquant was in charge of the surplus.

Traffic restrictions

Due to the Grand Pique-nique des Champs-Élysées, several lanes were closed to traffic on Sunday, May 26, from 3 a.m. to 11 p.m.:

Avenue des Champs Elysées, between avenue George V and rue Arsène Houssaye
Rue Galilée, between Rue Vernet and Avenue des Champs-Elysées;
Rue Balzac, between rue Lord Byron and avenue des Champs-Elysées;
rue Bassano, between rue Vernet and avenue des Champs-Elysées.

From 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, a temporary pedestrian zone was set up within the perimeter formed by the following streets in the 8th arrondissement: rue Arsène Houssaye, rue Lord Byron, rue Chateaubriand, rue Washington, rue d'Artois, rue de Berri, rue de Ponthieu, avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt, rond-point des Champs-Élysées - Marcel Dassault (western section), avenue Montaigne, rue François 1ᵉʳ, avenue George V, rue Vernet, avenue Marceau and rue de Presbourg. Motor vehicle traffic was prohibited within this perimeter for the duration of the event. The traffic ban did not apply to the above-mentioned roads delimiting the perimeter.

In short, this grand picnic on the Champs-Élysées is sure to go down in history.