Cabaret Sauvage takes private events of up to 800 guests in cocktail format: plenary sessions, cocktails, seated dinners and dance parties. The venue is a round big top of wood and red velvet in Parc de la Villette, at 59 boulevard Macdonald in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, with a large terrace above the Canal de l'Ourcq.
Seminars and company events
The private events team sells the whole hall for companies and agencies. The formats it names are the plenary, the cocktail, the dance party and the dinner, and a single evening can move from one to the next in the same room. The 360-degree layout puts every guest close to the center of the room, which helps for a keynote followed by a party.
For a company evening, the cocktail figure of 800 guests is the one to plan with. The terrace adds an outdoor area for a welcome drink or an open-air reception in summer. The hall is air-conditioned and has a cloakroom inside the venue.
The same team handles concerts and shows booked by producers, so the room is used to stage work, sound and light for large audiences. Ask the team which technical package comes with a private hire, since the event page does not list equipment.
Rooms and capacities
There is one main hall and one terrace. Figures published by the venue:
Private event, cocktail format: up to 800 guests.
Concert or club night, standing: 1,300.
Seated or seated-standing show format: 600.
Terrace: 2,000 m², with an outdoor bar.
The hall now stands on seven pillars instead of the fifteen of the earlier big top, which clears the sight lines from the tables and banquettes to the central floor.
Catering
The venue runs its own bar team. The event page does not say whether food comes from an in-house kitchen or an outside caterer, so confirm the catering set-up when you ask for a quote.
History and setting
The story starts in 1994, when Méziane Azaïche set up a mirrored tent in Parc de la Villette for a few weeks. It stayed for several months and drew about 25,000 spectators, and he decided to build his own big top. Cabaret Sauvage opened in December 1997.
In summer 2019 a new structure replaced the old one. The venue describes it as the first soundproofed mirror tent in the world. Inside, it kept the codes of the original: red velvet, wooden carving, cozy banquettes, stained glass, bevelled mirrors, a parquet floor and a circular dance floor. The programme mixes concerts, club nights, cabaret, balls and circus, with artists from many countries.
Parc de la Villette is a large urban cultural park, and the terrace looks over the canal and the green spaces around it, a calm setting for a city venue.
Getting there
Metro line 7 stops at Porte de la Villette; take exit 1 onto boulevard Macdonald and follow the tram tracks to the park. Metro line 5 stops at Porte de Pantin, from where you cross the park along the Grande Halle and then the canal. For drivers and ride-hailing, the venue gives 13 boulevard Macdonald as the drop-off address. The postal address of the office is 221 avenue Jean Jaurès.
