The Salon Philatélique d’Automne is the largest annual philatelic fair in France. It is organised by the Chambre syndicale française des Négociants et Experts en Philatélie (CNEP), and since 1998 has been held at the Espace Champerret, an exhibition centre located northwest of Paris.
Like other European philatelic fairs, this autumn fair has been suffering in recent years from a significant reduction in the number of visitors. The organisers have been trying to respond to this trend and attract more collectors, but without much success.
The fair had previously been held over four days, from the Thursday to Sunday. The low number of visitors over the weekend forced the organisers to cancel the Sunday and thus reduce the fair to three days, and so in 2023 it was held from November 8th to 10th, from Wednesday to Friday.
You can read articles on all the Salons Philatéliques d’Automne since 2005 both on our earlier website and in the issues of VARIABLE
The fact is that the Salon is usually only crowded in the morning of the first day, with long queues forming before opening time (pictured below), when personalities attend the show and Philaposte sells the exclusive and reduced print runs of issues released especially for this event.
The 2023 Salon Philatélique d’Automne consisted of just over 50 stands occupied by dealers associated with the CNEP, some of the main French philatelic publishers and associations, and a dozen international philatelic services, many represented by a well-known company. The honoured “guest” postal administration in 2023 was French Polynesia, which by the way has always been present at the Salons d’Automne with its stand.
The big news at the Salon 2023 was the almost surprising presentation and sale of the new definitive stamp series ‘Marianne de l’avenir‘. The design had been unveiled the day before the start of the Salon, during a visit by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, to the Imprimerie de Philaposte in Boulazac.