BLIIIDA hosts company evenings, staff conventions, product launches, trade fairs, conferences, seminars and team-building days, from a meeting of five to an outdoor event for 1,500 standing guests. The venue is a creative and business hub at 7 avenue de Blida in Metz, set on the former maintenance site of the Metz public transport network.
Seminars and company events
The main room is The Walking Ghosts Hall, 450 square meters plus a stage of 84 square meters (12 by 7 meters). It is listed for 1,200 people for a concert, 450 for an assembly and 150 for a seated dinner. It has built-in sound, lighting and video control, a 20-meter bar and step-free access. Past events listed by the venue include a vehicle launch for Hyundai, a staff convention for Moselis, the New Year address of the Grand Est Region and the Metz Beer Fest.
For working sessions, five smaller rooms are available. La Cabane, a former design studio of 72 square meters with a screen, a sound system and air conditioning, takes 50 people for meetings, general assemblies and workshops. The Transition Numérique room (44 square meters) takes 30 in assembly layout or 25 around a table, with a large interactive screen and movable furniture. The Salle Cocorico (47 square meters) seats 25 for meetings, small conferences and business meals and has a videoconference system. Le Hub takes five people with a connected screen for video calls.
The events team works like an agency and can handle a project from start to finish: activities and workshops with resident artists and entrepreneurs, guided tours of the site, security, technical suppliers, drinks and food.
Rooms and capacities
La Cour, the open-air courtyard at the center of the site, is listed for 1,500 people standing or 600 for a seated lunch or dinner. A converted bus serves as its bar. The hall is the largest indoor space at 1,200 for a concert. The meeting rooms range from 5 to 50 people. The rental page sums them up as rooms for 5 to 40 people with videoconference, with visits and catering on request.
Catering
The Cantine is the hub's canteen, where residents and visitors eat dishes from the resident caterer, L'Amour Food. The Salle Cocorico and the Transition Numérique room are next to it, which makes it easy to move a meeting into lunch. For larger events, BLIIIDA puts together drinks and food offers with its partners; menus are agreed for each project.
History and setting
In 2013 the maintenance center of the Metz public transport network moved to Woippy, leaving a 30,000-square-meter industrial site empty. That October it hosted the sixth Nuit Blanche festival of Metz, and local artists began to use the buildings. The project started in 2014 with the support of the City of Metz, and the Fluxus cultural and artistic incubator followed in 2019.
The courtyard joins the former bus depot and the former municipal slaughterhouses. The Walking Ghosts Hall began as an artwork by Étienne Bardelli before becoming an equipped event hall. Around them are shared workshops for metal (300 square meters), wood (200 square meters) and blown glass, and an associative coworking space with 40 desks. Event groups therefore meet among working artists, craftspeople and start-ups, and a tour of the workshops can be added to the program.
Getting there
The site is about a ten-minute walk from Saint-Étienne Cathedral and about ten minutes by bike from Metz station. LE MET' bus line 3 stops at Rimport, and the Proxi 111 and Navette 18 lines stop at Blida. Free parking is available within the limits of the spaces, and there is a bike rack at the entrance. The hub is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays.
