The Centre des Congrès d'Épinal hosts congresses, conferences, general assemblies, seminars, training days, company evenings, trade shows, exhibitions and concerts. Its 12,000 square meters of covered space range from four meeting rooms for up to 70 people to a 5,200 square meter hall that takes 5,000 guests. The center stands at 7 avenue de Saint-Dié in Épinal, in the Vosges, and welcomes more than 200 events a year.
Seminars and company events
The four meeting rooms on the first floor measure 40 to 60 square meters, receive daylight and come with a projector, screen, flipchart and Wi-Fi. Each takes up to 70 people theater style, 36 in a classroom, 32 in a U-shape, 30 at round tables or 80 for a cocktail. Three coffee-break formulas, organic fruit baskets, lunch trays and buffet lunches can be added.
For conferences and assemblies, the Salle de conférence is a 200-seat amphitheater of 200 square meters with writing tablets, a 31 square meter stage, an equipped control booth, full sound, a projector and wired high-speed internet. Technicians stay on hand during the event.
Larger congresses move to Tambour Major, 840 square meters, whose telescopic stand of 387 seats lets the room switch from a 970-seat amphitheater to a flat floor for a show or a cocktail. It has a 120 square meter stage, a dressing room and projection and sound equipment. The neighboring Chat Botté room, 720 square meters, is often booked for dinner-dances and company meals, with a 60 square meter stage, two dressing rooms and a caterer's room. The two rooms can be combined.
The team also sells turnkey half-day and full-day study packages, with or without a team-building activity, and arranges sound, lighting, furniture, stands, flowers and printed material.
Rooms and capacities
The Grande Halle, the original exhibition hall, covers 5,200 square meters under a timber roof shaped like an upturned hull, with a ceiling height of 3.40 to 10.7 meters. Curtains divide it into sections from 480 square meters. It takes 3,000 people for a conference, 5,000 for a cocktail and 250 stands of 9 square meters, and has two truck doors.
Le Pavillon, the 550 square meter entrance hall, has a bar and a cloakroom. It takes 100 for a conference, 200 for a banquet and 500 for a cocktail, and can be combined with the amphitheater next door.
Chat Botté takes 800 for a conference, 500 for a banquet and 1,500 for a cocktail. Tambour Major takes 970 for a conference, 200 in a classroom, 500 for a banquet and 1,500 for a cocktail.
Accommodation
There are no bedrooms on site. The center works with the group service of Épinal Tourisme, which books rooms for delegates among more than 540 rooms in local hotels rated one to four stars, at preferential rates.
Catering
Catering comes from caterers in the area, chosen by the center. Options include welcome coffee, cocktail lunches and dinners, and gala dinners.
History and setting
The site opened as the Parc des Expositions and took its present name after a renovation in 2006. It is the largest venue in the Vosges combining exhibition halls and meeting rooms. Outside are a forecourt and six car parks with more than 1,500 free spaces, reached directly from the expressway.
Getting there
By train, Épinal is listed at 2 hours 15 minutes from Paris on a direct service, under an hour from Nancy and 2 hours 30 from Strasbourg; a bus reaches the center from the station in a few minutes, and bus line 7 serves it. By road, Nancy is 60 kilometers away on the N57. Épinal-Mirecourt airport is under an hour away and Metz-Nancy-Lorraine about 1 hour 15.
