Description
Paris Expo Porte de Versailles is France's leading exhibition centre located in the heart of the city. Set in the 15th arrondissement, it belongs to the City of Paris and has been operated since 1987 by Viparis, a joint subsidiary of the CCI Paris Île-de-France and Unibail-Rodamco. The site covers 228,000 sqm in total, including 212,545 sqm of indoor exhibition space spread across seven halls, complemented by 72,000 sqm of green space.
Construction of the venue began in 1923 at the joint initiative of the City of Paris and the Foire de Paris, then in search of a permanent site for its agricultural and equestrian editions. The site opened to the public in January 1925 with the Salon de la Machine Agricole. The monumental entrance with its four bell towers was built in 1937, on the occasion of the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques. The venue today hosts more than 200 events per year for around 7.5 million visitors, across formats ranging from B2B professional trade shows to paid public-facing events. In 2024, it served as the "South Paris Arena" for the Olympic handball, weightlifting, volleyball and table tennis events.
Halls
The venue spans seven operational halls, each with its own logic of surface area and modularity.
- Hall 1: the largest single-span hall, 44,936 sqm, a central nave in natural light, with direct access to the grounds. It typically hosts large-scale bare-floor formats (Foire de Paris Home & Co zone, Concours Lépine).
- Halls 2, 3 and 4: a poolable ensemble used in a unified or partitioned configuration depending on requirements. Halls 2 and 3 are undergoing complete reconstruction over the period December 2025 to September 2028 as part of the final modernisation phase.
- Hall 5: a modular structure split across three sub-spaces (5.1, 5.2, 5.3), used for trade shows with variable formats.
- Hall 6: the architectural signature of the site, delivered in 2019 by the firm Valode et Pistre (lead architect, façade of vertical white slats), topped by a monumental canopy designed by Jean Nouvel: a triangular steel monolith (70 m per side, up to 50 m in height when raised) fitted with more than 600 LED battens. 21,400 sqm, with a three-level parking base and a planted rooftop terrace hosting a 14,000 sqm urban farm (one of the largest in Europe) as well as restaurants and an event space with views over Paris.
- Hall 7: three interconnected levels totalling 70,163 sqm, with up to 36 configurable spaces, an atrium with Eiffel Tower views and a rooftop terrace. The top level houses the Paris Convention Centre, the largest congress centre in Europe, with a 5,200-seat plenary, 28 conference rooms (160 to 5,200 seats) and 48 meeting rooms (20 to 602 seats).
- Hall 8: a new hall under construction, with delivery scheduled for September 2028, as part of the same project as Halls 2 and 3.
Access and transport
The venue stands out for its multimodal connections within the city, a rarity for a site of this scale.
- Métro: line 12, Porte de Versailles station (exit 1 for Halls 2 to 7, exit 2 for Hall 1). Balard station on line 8 nearby.
- Tram: lines T2 and T3a, stop Porte de Versailles - Parc des Expositions.
- Bus: RATP lines 39 and 80, as well as the Noctilien night service.
- Vélib': dedicated station on avenue Ernest Renan.
- Car: several on-site car parks (P1, P6, P7, P8), with direct access to the halls from P6 underground. Disabled parking spaces near the lifts and pedestrian exits.
The official address is 1 Place de la Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris. The site is accessible from Orly via the T7 tram and Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle via the RER B + métro 12.
Services
The venue operates like an event micro-city. The range of services includes:
- Catering in multiple forms: food courts spread across the halls, rooftop restaurants on Hall 6, cafés and quick-service points throughout the site.
- Paris Convention Centre (Hall 7): an integrated congress centre with 28 conference rooms and 48 modular meeting rooms.
- On-site accommodation: Mama Shelter and Novotel for a total of 450 rooms, complemented by Eklo, Le Perchoir and the wider Île-de-France offering (149,000 rooms across the region).
- Disabled access: wheelchairs available at the security control point, the MAP'EXPO interactive navigation tool, dedicated assistance at door A2.
- WiFi across the site, Viparis event concierge services at major occasions.
News
The venue is in the final stretch of a modernisation programme launched in 1996 and structured in three major phases.
- Hall 7: a major renovation completed in 2017, incorporating a 30% reduction in the hall's energy consumption, 8-metre mobile partitions in hall 7.3, and the creation of the Paris Convention Centre on the upper level (opened 2017).
- Hall 6: delivered in 2019, designed by Valode et Pistre, with a monumental LED-batten canopy designed by Jean Nouvel and a 14,000 sqm rooftop urban farm (the largest rooftop farm in Europe), a European benchmark for integrating nature into an inner-city event site.
- Halls 2 and 3: complete demolition and reconstruction, plus the creation of Hall 8, over the period December 2025 to September 2028, the final phase of the Viparis ten-year plan.
Once the 2028 works are complete, the venue will have eight operational halls.
Flagship trade shows
Paris Expo Porte de Versailles hosts a broad spectrum of public-facing and B2B trade shows. Among the defining dates of the calendar:
- Foire de Paris: the largest public-facing commercial fair in Europe, 12 days over the May Day bank holiday weekend.
- Maison&Objet: the global benchmark for decoration and the art of living, two editions per year (January and September).
- Wine Paris & Vinexposium: the global leader in professional wine and spirits trade shows.
- Mondial de l'Auto: the biennial international motor show, Halls 1, 4, 6.
- VivaTech: the major European tech trade show, scheduled for Hall 7 in 2026.
- Salon des Maires et des Collectivités Locales: the benchmark for the local public sector.
- MIF Expo: the Made in France trade show.
- Paris Photo: the international art photography fair.
- Equip'Hôtel: the European benchmark for hospitality and catering.
- RENT: Real Estate & New Technologies, the proptech trade show.
- Pharmagora Plus: the annual community pharmacy congress.
- SantExpo: the trade show for hospital decision-makers.
- SIMI: the commercial real estate trade show.
- Paris Games Week: the benchmark video game trade show in France.
The venue also hosts the Salon International de l'Agriculture (SIA 2027), Hall 1 and associated halls, over nine days at the end of February.