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Parc Astérix () is a
theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
based on the comic book series ''
Asterix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, French comic album book series, series about a Gaulish village which, thanks ...
'' by Albert Uderzo and
René Goscinny René Goscinny (; ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Asterix, Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Born in France to a Jewish family from Poland, he spent his chil ...
. In 2023, the park welcomed over 2.8 million visitors, making it the second most visited park in France behind
Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, located about east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, an arena, and a shopping, dining and entert ...
and the eighth most visited park in Europe. It is especially renowned in France for its large variety of
roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...
s, which exceeds the amount of most other parks in mainland France. Park Astérix has begun incorporating rides and themes from historic cultures like the
Gauls The Gauls (; , ''Galátai'') were a group of Celts, Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman Gaul, Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). Th ...
, the Romans,
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
and recently
Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
, but always in the visual style of the related comic books, and most usually reusing characters, scenes and sounds from the Astérix media. The park is located approximately north of
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, from
Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, located about east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, an arena, and a shopping, dining and entert ...
and from the historic Château de Chantilly, in the commune of Plailly, in the department of
Oise Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...
. Opened in 1989, the park is operated by Compagnie des Alpes and located right by the A1 motorway (Paris ↔ Lille ↔ Brussels), having its own highway exit and interchange.


History


Conception and inauguration

Largely funded by the
Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...
financial company, with 20 other investors including Compagnie Générale des Eaux, the
Havas Havas NV () is a French multinational corporation, multinational advertising agency, advertising and public relations company, with its registered office and head office in Puteaux, France. Havas operates in more than 100 countries. The group ...
group, Union des Assurances de Paris and the
Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
region, the park cost 850 million
French franc The franc (; , ; currency sign, sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amoun ...
s to build and generated 1,200 jobs. The location was chosen due to the transport network: a private interchange connects it with the nearby
A1 autoroute The A1 Autoroutes of France, Autoroute, also autoroutes autoroute du Nord (the Northern Motorway), is the busiest of France's autoroutes and is part of an environmental zones.(See below) With a length of , it connects Paris with the northern c ...
and a bus shuttle service connects it with Paris Métro Line 7 at La Courneuve's 8 Mai 1945 station. Jack Lang, then Minister of Culture, inaugurated the park on 30 April 1989 after two years of work. The opening of
Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, located about east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, an arena, and a shopping, dining and entert ...
in 1992 caused Parc Astérix's attendance to fall 30% and its revenue by 19%. However, attendance soon stabilised to around 2 million visitors per year.


Recent developments

In October 2005, Parc Astérix ran ''La Fête des Druides'' ("The Festival of the Druids"), as a way of "thumbing their noses" at
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
. Season 2007 saw the Parc Astérix opening for the first time during the Christmas holidays. In 2009, for the park's 20th anniversary, it opened during the weekends in September and October and ran a Halloween event called ''Peur sur le Parc Astérix'' ("Fear at Parc Astérix"). In May 2018, the park's then Head of Construction, Thomas Dubosc, announced on television the construction of ''Toutatis'', a new multi-launch roller coaster manufactured by
Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein, best-known for designing and constructing Amusement ride, thrill rides and roller coasters at dozens of international theme parks, amusement parks and other e ...
, scheduled to be opened in 2021 yet only opened for season 2023 due to COVID-19 and woodcutting delays. In January 2021, the park announced it was closing its dolphin and sea lion enclosure, the ''Delphinarium'', in order to focus on rides and other shows.


Attractions

The park features many attractions and shows including: *'' Tonnerre 2 Zeus'', a large
wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also be ...
built by Custom Coasters International (1997); *'' Goudurix'', a large steel multi-looping coaster, built by Vekoma (1989); *''Trace du Hourra'', a 900-metre large bobsled roller coaster with an 60 km/h top speed (2001); *'' Romus et Rapidus'', a scenic river rapids ride (1989); * OzIris, an inverted roller coaster, built by Bolliger & Mabillard (2012); *''Attention Menhir'', a 4D cinema show (2019); *''L'Oxygénarium,'' a large twisting water slide with round inflatable dinghies (1999); *''La Galère'', a swinging ship ride (1989); *''Menhir Express'', a
Menhir A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...
-themed log flume ride with a 13-metre final drop (1995); *''La Revanche des Pirates'' (previously ''Le Grand Splatch''), a large capacity Shoot the Chute articulated around the park's feature rock statue(1989); *''Le Défi de César'', a Madhouse ride (2008); *''Le Delphinarium'', one of the largest dolphin enclosures in Europe; *'' Pégase Express'', a launched
steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its steel Railway track, track, which consists of long steel tubes that are run in pairs, supported by larger steel columns or beams. Trains running along the track typically rely ...
that reverses the ride direction after a pause halfway through the ride, built by Gerstlauer (2017). *''
Toutatis Teutates (spelled variously Toutatis, Totatis, Totates) is a Celtic god attested in literary and epigraphic sources. His name, which is derived from a proto-Celtic word meaning "tribe", suggests he was a national god, tribal deity. The Roman po ...
'', a launched steel roller coaster with a similar ride direction reversal halfway through (2023), current holder of the "Tallest and fastest roller coaster in France" record, and manufactured by
Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein, best-known for designing and constructing Amusement ride, thrill rides and roller coasters at dozens of international theme parks, amusement parks and other e ...
.


Economic and Operational Data


Management and Personnel

The park scheduled recruiting around 2,000 people for the 2023 season, which is a record number compared to previous years.


Attendance

In 2023, Parc Astérix achieved a record yearly attendance of over 2.8 million visitors, the season was marked by the opening of the new roller-coaster
Toutatis Teutates (spelled variously Toutatis, Totatis, Totates) is a Celtic god attested in literary and epigraphic sources. His name, which is derived from a proto-Celtic word meaning "tribe", suggests he was a national god, tribal deity. The Roman po ...
.


Incidents

* In July 2004, an 11-year-old boy was hit by lightning at the foot of the ''Trace du Hourra'' bobsleigh, despite 3 lightning rods located less than 20m from him. The park had continued operating despite weather warnings. * On 5 July 2006, a 6-year-old Belgian child drowned on the ''Descente du Styx'' river rapids ride, sucked in by the water pumps used to create the flow in the bottom of the ride's canal. The ride underwent various security measures; it was renamed to ''Romus et Rapidus'' in order to cast off the bad memory and unfortunate implications of the tragic accident. In Greek and Roman mythologies, the Styx is the river of the
Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
that has to be crossed by the dead.


See also

* Incidents at European amusement parks *
List of tourist attractions in Paris Paris, the capital of France, has an annual 30 million foreign visitors, and so is one of the most visited cities in the world. Paris's sights include monuments and architecture, such as its Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower and neo-classic Baron H ...


References


External links


Parc Astérix official website
(some parts require
Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a mostly discontinuedAlthough it is discontinued by Adobe Inc., for the Chinese market it is developed by Zhongcheng and for the international enterprise market it is developed by Ha ...
. In French, with some English translations)
Parc Astérix on rcdb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parc Asterix Amusement parks in France Asterix Buildings and structures in Oise Compagnie des Alpes Tourist attractions in Hauts-de-France Tourist attractions in Oise 1989 establishments in France Amusement parks opened in 1989