With a record 700,000 visitors in 2014 – more than 600,000 last year – the international agricultural show is the busiest annual fair in France. The one we usually nickname “the largest farm in France” takes place between the end of February and the beginning of March.
It has become over time a practically unmissable event for the media and political figures. Despite its symbolic importance and the political and economic issues it raises, the event has been virtually ignored by historians, writes Olivier Favier.