PARIS.- Imagine. An extraordinary garden with crystal chandeliers attached to a sky of greenery. A magical fountain, a hot-air balloon carrying an elephant or a unicorn playing the piano. A Belle Epoque fair (end 19th century) and its hundred-years-old carousels. A little Venice with its lagoon and baroque palace. This dream-like universe is real.

At the heart of the Bercy neighbourhood in Paris, ancient wine warehouses built by Gustave Eiffel's apprentice host thousands of objects, among them ancient fairground artefacts, theatre and music-hall objects and other curiosities. They were brought together and staged by Jean-Paul Favand who considers them all as actors.

The Musée des Arts Forains stands between cultural heritage and entertainment, where touching the objects and trying the ride is possible to enhance conviviality and daydream.

A land of adventure, freedom, culture, conviviality and daydream
Hosted since 1996 in XIXth century Wine Warehouses, listed among the French inventory of Historic Monuments, the Pavillons de Bercy receive more than 250 000 people a year.

Five unique worlds on 8500m2, each staged with their own specific theme:

• Le Musée des Arts Forains (Museum of Fairground Arts), a Belle-Époque fairground space

• Le Théâtre du Merveilleux (The Theatre of Marvels), a giant curiosity-cabinet paying tribute to projection shows.

• Les Salons Vénitiens (The Venetian rooms), a carnival in the Serene Republic.

• Le Théâtre de Verdure (The Greenery Theatre), an extraordinary garden.
And since Fall 2014, the recently settled "Magic Mirror", an authentic travelling ballroom from the 1920's.

A continuously evolving cultural location, staging the biggest collection of festive arts and entertainment 'objects' in Europe through the use of modern sound and image technologies. This unique scenography, combining tradition and modernity, transforms this place into a huge living show where the rides and objects are actors.

An entertaining museum to discover year round:
Guided tours involving the public's participation are available all year long upon reservation. The visitors need to be guided within this art-living museum as it is possible to try the rides and touch the objects within its walls. A real Journey out of time…

THE RESTORATION WORKSHOPS: RESURRECTING OBJECTS' MAGIC
All the authentic patrimony objects, artefacts and ancient rides are in an excellent preserved condition. Many years of research and restoration have been necessary to enable each object to tell its story, as some have been in use for more than a hundred years.

Thanks to a museography oriented restoration, the museum professionals – archivists, experts, art curators as well as exhibition designer- analysed over 29000 objects, post cards, and catalogs from Fairground manufacturers all over Europe.

During their fairground life, the museum rides and attractions were repainted multiple times to maintain their lively aspects; sometimes as much as 20 layers of paint were applied! The conservation work now involves the uncovering of every paint layer with a scalpel in order to reveal their original colours and sculpture, which can take up to 3 months.