Nantes revs up for the Rugby World Cup

This September, the Western Loire’s city of Nantes will dazzle over 200,000 fans as it commences a programme of festivities in celebration of its status as host city for the 6th Rugby World Cup. A mixture of culture, art and plain fun, the programme has been designed to entertain rugby fans beyond the matches themselves.

The following matches will be held in the recently renovated La Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau Stadium:

• 9 September (Wales/Canada)
• 22 September (England/Samoa)
• 29 September (Wales/Fiji)

Over three weekends, the city will resonate to the sound of mobile artistic events that will stretch along Nantes’s central tramway routes, whilst a series of giant World Cup-themed photo portraits will mark the route between the SNCF train station and Square Daviais.

The city centre will be awash will floral decorations from topical arrangements depicting ‘Tries and Conversions’ to rugby goals made of plants, which will be set up on the lawns of the Square Daviais and Place Graslin. The colours of the teams competing in Nantes will also be planted on the Olivier de Clisson squares and lawns of the Ile Feydeau.

All 22 Cup matches played in France and the UK over these three weekends will be broadcast in full on giant screens across the city centre and visitors will be able to watch further live rugby action at the Place Royale, where an inflatable rugby pitch will play host to local teams playing a series of matches throughout the month.

Seats for the pool matches and quarter finals are still available on the Cup’s official website France2007.fr

A tourist passport or Nantes Pass is available for 16 Euros (24hrs), 27 Euros (48hrs) or 32 Euros (72hrs) which gives free access to the entire public transport system and the various tourist sites in the city and its outskirts. It also offers discounts in an extensive selection of shops.

Visit Nantes-tourisme.com for further information.

Fast Facts: The Rugby World Cup 2007

• 48 matches – 20 teams – 600 players
• 12 cities
• 2.4 millions spectators
• 350,000 foreign tourists
• 4 billion television viewers
• 250 television channels
• 6,000 volunteers
• 2,500 media representatives

Further information on the city of Nantes is available on Nantes-tourisme.com. A central reservations service for accommodation is also available on this website together with details of other attractions in and around the city including golf courses, thalassotherapy spas, horse racing, wine tasting, river cruises, bicycle rides and shopping.

More accessible than ever with direct flights to Nantes from all major regional airports and via Rail Europe and Brittany Ferries, the Western Loire region stretches from the Atlantic coast to Le Mans and is intersected by the famous River Loire with its many tributaries and waterways. For further information visit Westernloire.com.