Lunel: A historic “No hay billetes” this Sunday in the San Juan bullring

Gradins combles annoncés pour la corrida de dimanche. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

the essential This Friday morning, the arena ticket office announced that the 4,000 places available for Sunday's extraordinary bullfighting event were sold.

It’s done. There are no more tickets for sale for Sunday's bullfight. Bet won. And three days in advance of the appointment. This Friday morning, it was Simon Casas, architect of the exceptional cartel in Lunel, who, from the Madrid bullring of which he is the empresa, was the first to announce it. In the process, Maestria's co-partners Stéphane Roussille, Hervé Jeanne, Pascal Mailhan and their service provider Hadrien Poujol confirmed it. The “No hay billete” hoped for two years, has been achieved.

An exceptional cartel and a historic moment for the arenas

The exceptional cartel which will bring together, on the San Juan track, the rejoneadora Léa Vicens facing toros de Gallon and the toreros on foot Sébastien Castella, Alejandro Talavante and Daniel Luque facing a batch of Victoriano del Rio and Cortes managed to fill the bullring.
There will therefore be 4,000 on the stands, in the boxes and in the back ring on Sunday from 5:30 p.m., which gives this already exceptional bullfight a historic character. « The two previous bullfights which brought people to the arenas but without managing to fill them completely were, in 1985, a bullfight canceled in Nîmes which had been postponed here and also a bullfight, one year, with the matador Victor Mendès », says Stéphane Roussille.

The poster woke up the Provençal public

Le “no hay billetes” was acquired in several stages. « Reservations initially got off to a very strong start. Besides, we were not ready, it must be admitted, to absorb all the requests. Then there was a gap and for a month and even more so in the last few days it was very strong again, specifies the manager. The latter also indicates that the audience is larger than usual. « Unlike other years, we found that the poster awakened the Provençal public but it also motivated many Lunel residents. »

Obviously, for Maestria production, this performance is far from trivial. In addition to the financial benefits and in terms of image for the Lunel bullfighting place, Stéphane Roussille insists: « This is the reward for the work of the entire Maestria team but also of those who advise us: Simon Casas and Roberto Piles. We knew that this format with 4 toreros and 8 toros was already historic but it remained a bet to achieve “No hay billetes”. » And the co-partner to promise « to do as well next year and why not better. It is also, for us, a commitment. »

A satisfaction for the aficionado

But that's not all, Stéphane Roussille finally underlines his personal satisfaction as an aficionado: « For us, small organizers, this “no hay billete” it’s a dream come true. But as an aficionado I am also very happy because it shows that in the face of controversy, we manage to fill the arenas. Moreover, everywhere, in France and Spain, attendance at arenas has increased by around 20%. » And to conclude, Stéphane Roussille launches a challenge to Camargue racing enthusiasts: « With the exceptional 3M trophy this Saturday, the Camargue people must also fill the arenas. Two “no hay billetes” in two days, it would be extraordinary. »

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