On June 27 and 28 2009, from midday to 6:00 pm, the Nave opened its doors for a weekend wholly devoted to roller skating. In partnership with Pari-Roller, the association that organises the now famous Friday night roller skating tours through Paris, the Grand Palais offered the public two days in which to discover and try out the pleasures of roller skating. Including an initiation into skating and braking (some 140 pairs of skates were made available to the public), demonstrations, rink-hockey and roller-soccer matches, an exhibition on the history of roller skating, live music… : the free admission and entertainment drew nearly 15,000 visitors, skate fans and amateurs, and also tourists curious to discover the Nave in an environment that was at once festive and friendly.
Highlights included:
- Nearly 5,000 skaters who took over the Nave on Friday June 26 at 10:00 pm when the roller-parade launched the open day week-end.
- The programme of entertainment attracting 2,987 people on Saturday June 27, and 3,336 people on Sunday June 28 from midday to 6:00 pm. The initiation area drew a public of all ages who enjoyed the free loan of a pair of rollers (140 were available).
- With the arrival of the "Rollers et coquillages" tour on Sunday at 4:00 pm, the number of skaters in the Nave peaked at 3,500.
- The demonstrations by the roller skate brigade of the Paris police force and the opportunity to discover the still little-known sports of rink-hockey and roller-soccer thrilled onlookers.
- The "1,600 pandas" exhibit, designed by WWF-France, installed on the Great Staircase, accompanied this green weekend, a reminder of the very real threat of extinction that hangs over this animal species.
- The "Paris, roller-skate capital" exhibition was a chance to find out the complete history of roller skating.
