Blois, and what next?

Blois, and then what?

Season 201922 December 20212 min read

The Blois microlight show was born in 1981, almost at the same time as the Federation. It was created at Blois aerodrome by Christian Lhomme, who was its main organiser through the CORULM association until 2009. For the past 10 years, Jean-Marie Carré, who joined CORULM in 1990, has headed the organisation through the Pélicans association. After a detour via Onzain airfield, the show returned to the aerodrome in 2004; the département has managed it since 2007.

Jean-Marie Carré announced in the spring that his last show would be in 2020. The question of what comes next had been raised for a few years, without a precise timetable. My predecessor, Dominique Méreuze, whose vice-president I then was, did not want the Federation to take over the organisation of the show directly. He preferred the organiser to be an association strongly supported by the Federation.

Since my team took office in March 2017, we have not communicated on this subject, as the elements of this delicate matter were still ambiguous, starting with the timetable. However, well before the spring announcement, I told the president of the département that the Federation was ready to take over the show directly, with a group of partners. That is what we announced officially at the last show, alongside the president of the département and Jean-Marie Carré.

The Federation will therefore be present in 2021 to revitalise the show. We want Blois to be a celebration: renewed, broader, accessible. That requires partners who will follow us in the project.

The DGAC will help ensure flight safety, as we do for example on the Tour ULM. The RSA will be involved so that we can pool our energies. The organiser of the Coupe Icare is with us to bring the festive dimension and the great experience of a public event. We want paramotoring to be widely represented again, with the organisers of the MAP. Blois's historic partners are also on board, starting with Vol Moteur and of course the département, as well as the Ministry of Sport. We want the show to take place the week after the start of the school year; we will set up a trade day on the Friday and an air show over the weekend.

We want a celebration that is open, accessible and rich in all our activities, widened to include others, in the spirit of the Coupe Icare and a Mini-Oskosh.

We are lucky to have a central event. It needs to be revitalised.

See you in 2021!