Vespa Events Review 2021: Paris Vespa Day

A Modern Riding Life in Paris

A report from our friend Olivier – Member of the Vespa Club Paris Ile-de-France / Vulcan Scooter Club.

On the eve of the year 2022, and the 70th anniversary of the Vespa Club Paris Ile-de-France and the Vespa Club de France, it seemed important for our club, on this national Heritage Day, to celebrate our passion for the Vespa, as we have been doing every year since 2015, when we took over the organization of the first “Vespa Parade Paris” with just 50 Vespas. From year to year, by way of our communication and our presence at different National & Regional Vespa rallies, our club has grown to nearly 300 members assembled at the last Vespa Parade in 2019!

MODERN LIFE

In 2020, the Covid crisis having severely reduced the organization of many scooter events, we decided to plan our “Vespa Parade Paris” in a different way and change its name to “Paris Vespa Day”. But this global situation was not the only reason. In Paris, as in many cities in Europe, our two strokes & classic geared scooters are less and less well accepted, and there are more and more restrictions imposed on motorized two-wheelers. Our Vespas are not only weekend scooters, our Vespas are also our daily riding machines, so it seemed obvious to us to in order to make our voices heard, we needed to join the regular demonstrations by the FFMC (“Federation Française des Motards en Colère”: Federation of Angry Bikers) equivalent to the “Motorcycle Action Group” in UK. We needed to assert our rights to ride in Paris and its suburbs, and to fight against the various measures imposed on us by both the Paris City Hall and the suburban/Ile-de-France authorities … but also at the European level: MOTs for motorcycles & scooters (which is not required yet in France), Paid Parking for motorcycles & scooters, bans on overtaking lines of traffic, 30 km/h (20 mph) speed limits in the city, ZFE (Reduced Traffic Zones in the City Centre with regard to CO2 emissions).

The streets of Paris have become impossible for us to hold a ride out for 300 Vespas on its main boulevards as we done in 2019 on the Champs-Elysees Avenue or near Notre Dame Cathedral, so we decided like in 2020 to organize the “PARIS VESPA DAY” on the banks of the Seine River in a place we were able to occupy for a whole day. Once again, the Seguin Sound Pub, and its manager Richie from Liverpool, opened its doors to us!

If you arrive in Paris from the west, you will not fail to see this giant chrome ball, located in Boulogne-Billancourt on Seguin Island where Renault once manufactured its cars until the demolition of the factory in 2015, but which was also in May 1968, the starting point of the workers' and students' revolution and strikes in France. The Seguin Sound Pub is a three-storey Micro-Brasserie located five minutes by Vespa from Paris centre and PSG Stadium Parc des Princes, which is 1000 sqm and has a panoramic terrace with deckchairs, a sort of Brighton Beaches in front of the Seine! A magical place that seemed a natural location for us to organize the PARIS VESPA DAY 2021 with the support of our usual partners & sponsors!

IF I COULD ONLY BE SURE

After the success of the 2020 edition, and having met Richie and the staff of Seguin Sound (Matthew & Sofiane), for the 2021 editions we got moving with our partners and sponsors, to get the word out on Social Medias, to find a great band and DJs for the day!

Richard, a long-time Lambretta DL200 rider, and a regular on the UK Scooter scene, had just formed the Northern Soul group "SOUL TIME". After listening to several of their covers and original songs, it seemed obvious to us that this group of eight musicians and a singing girl with great vocals, was the group we had to book! As for the DJs, Mac Von Simca member of the RiriBoys SC, who had already spun his vinyl records in 2020 for us, had automatically agreed to be present at the PARIS VESPA DAY 2021, as well as other DJs including Ann Taylor "SoulNites", Laurent "LCJG" and Martin "Lord Swingin". Our event was taking shape and promised to be a real success ...

For two days the sun played tricks on us, but on Saturday the weather was expected to be good and sunny! The Vespa Club Paris Ile-de-France board, Lionel the President, Jean-Luc the Treasurer, Xavier the Secretary and myself were ready to roll from 9 am on the day, preparing our event, helped out by the "faithful" group of about ten members of the club, nicknamed “The Hard Nuts” welcomed the scooterists from 12 pm who parked their scooters on the pub’s terrace area! The Seguin Sound pulled out all the stops to welcome and serve the Parisian scooterists who arrived solo or in groups from the four corners of Paris and its suburbs. We would like to thank, at this stage, the staff of Seguin Sound Pub who helped us: Richie "the Liverpool Boss" and Sofiane, but also Chef Victoria McGarvey who was able to prepare delicious dishes all day, and also Matthew and Aurelia who served all day the famous beer "92" specially brewed with labels of Vespa Club Paris Ile-de-France by the Master Brewer Kieran Bird.

LONELY FOR YOU BABY

As the sun was shining brightly, Vespas arrived in groups, everyone stopping for lunch or a drink ... it was time to get down to the serious stuff. The terrace of the Seguin Sound was a great location, in addition to the trade stalls for Retrobilia (Ann & Les our English friends who came there with their golden Lambretta), Woodjee and its aluminum helmets holders, Lionel our sound engineer and his 80s guitars, or Vincent from WheelSecure who demonstrated its anti-puncture products! The first concert by SOUL TIME was announced, and in 45 minutes the group was able to really get the crowd going between the Sets of our four DJs! SOUL TIME were fantastic, and we invite you to follow them on Youtube or Facebook and contact them for your events! They are pure Northern Soul!

The afternoon continued, and as Jean-Luc and Xavier registered the hundred or so entries for our raffle, with nearly 3.000 euros of prizes given by our sponsors. Lionel our President, and I announced the program for the rest of the day and the evening, and thanked the scooterists (Vespa and Lambretta riders) present! While Ann, Mac, LCJG and Lord Swingin’ set the turntables alight with Northern Soul, British Beat, Mod Revival or Early Reggae, it was obvious that the 100 or so scooterists present were happy with this event judging by their smiles!

As we announced the winners of the raffle the Vespas came and went ... Paris and its suburb called “Ile-de-France” have always seen lots of Vespas and nothing is going to stop us going forward!

The SOUL TIME came back for a 2nd live concert that would last nearly an hour under the Parisian sun, singing and playing their classics of Northern Soul by Nolan Porter, Shirley Ellis, Sam Dees or their own original material. “Northern Soul was Burning in Paris!”  We were pleased to see members of the FFMC turning up to lend their support with Jean-Marc Belotti who had just taken part in a Motorcycle Demonstration that afternoon in the streets of Paris with 200 motorcycles to defend our rights!

The sweetness of this late afternoon allowed everyone to enjoy a good beer in a deckchair, waiting for the evening that would last on the upstairs dance floor of the Seguin Sound Pub until 2 am ...

THE RIGHT TRACK

The PARIS VESPA DAY 2021 was once again a great success thanks to the motivation of our members who helped us with its organization but also thanks to the support of our partners and sponsors who support us every year!

Thank you all for your support: SIP Scootershop, Bolidster Jeans, Scootering Magazine UK, Esquad Jeans, Marko Helmets & Original Driver, Nisa Selle Italy, Vulcanet, OrMotors, Retrobilia, Blauer, SkootDriver Productions, ENI Oils WheelSecure, Les Petites Créations de l'Arche.

We invite you all to the next PARIS VESPA DAY in 2022, and for the 70th Anniversary of the Vespa Club Paris Ile-de-France & Vespa Club de France both founded in 1952. Paris streets will be rumbling with the wheels of scooters and motorcycle during our Club Anniversary date and a ride in Paris!

Special Thanks to the "Noyau Dur" boys for their help: Pierre PI, Xavier Cosa-Strol, Bertrand, Jean-Paul, Arnaud with his Three-Wheeler, Martin (Sons of Polini SC), Christophe C and Christophe from les Essarts le Roi and Fred from Versailles.

Other photos from Paris Vespa Day and all our events are available on our Facebook page “Vespa Club Paris Ile-de-France”.

Paris Vespa Day picture gallery

Video of Paris Vespa Day 2021