Zénith Paris, Indoor concert arena in La Villette district, Paris, France
Zénith Paris is a concert hall in the Parc de la Villette, 19th arrondissement, on the edge of the Canal de l'Ourcq. Its glass front is set in a grid of thin metal frames, with a stack of small square platforms on the right and a row of cylindrical metal columns along the far edge. The main facade is a grid of black panels framed by red metal bars, with "LE ZENITH" in red capitals across the top and a curved translucent roof above.
Built in 1983 on the site of the Hippodrome de Pantin, a circus big-top that had become Paris's main venue for touring rock bands, the hall was designed by architects Philippe Chaix and Jean-Paul Morel at the initiative of Culture Minister Jack Lang. It was inaugurated on 12 January 1984 by Jacques Higelin, Zéro de Conduite, Renaud and Charles Trenet. Planned to last only three years, it was kept and became the first of a chain of Zénith halls across France.
The name "Zénith" is a registered trademark held by the company COKER and the French Ministry of Culture; any hall bearing it must seat at least 3,000. The Paris venue was the first to use it, so media often call it simply "Le Zénith". Kassav' members Jacob Desvarieux and Jocelyne Béroard share the record of 63 concerts here.
You can reach the hall through Porte de Pantin metro station on line 5 as well as several bus routes that connect to central Paris. For concerts, arriving slightly early is advisable since many visitors gather in the streets around the entrance before the start.
The hall was originally planned for only three years but proved so successful that it remained permanent. Today around 150 events take place here each year, drawing about 700,000 spectators in total.
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