(With the collaboration of J. Meyer)
PHILAFRANCE 2023, the major philatelic event which brings together the national philatelic championship and the annual congress of the Fédération Française des Associations Philatéliques (F.F.A.P.), was held from May 26th to 29th at the Parc des Expositions in Chalon-sur-Saône.
This year once again, La Poste, the FFAP and various stamp dealers through the CNEP and the association for the development of philately (ADPhile) came together to organise this great stamp event together with the local philatelic association, l’Amicale Philatélique Chalonnaise.
Since 2004, this event has been held in Paris every alternate even-numbered years and in the odd-numbered years in another city chosen by the federation. Cities which have hosted this major philatelic event have been Nancy (2005), Poitiers (2007), Tarbes (2009), Metz (2011), Amiens (2013), Mâcon (2015), Cholet (2017), Montpellier (2019) & Valenciennes (2021); all commemorated with various ATM issues and therefore reviewed in articles published on our earlier website and in various editions of VARIABLE.
In addition to the philatelic competition, consisting of some 180 collections arranged in more than 800 frames, the impressive hall at the Parc des Expositions hosted a number of stands occupied by specialised dealers, La Poste, local producers, and the main French philatelic institutions, such as l’Art du Timbre Gravé.
As in previous PHILAFRANCE events, Philaposte released a stamp dedicated to the city hosting the event and a commemorative LISA design, as well as two special postmarks. For its part, the FFAP produced its annual block/mini sheet including a personalized stamp.
The ‘Chalon-sur-Saône’ stamp with the usual vignette attached commemorating the 96th F.F.A.P. congress, and the LISA issue are designs by Pierre Albuisson, who was present at the event. The stamp and vignette depict two illustrious citizens, Nicéphore Niepce, inventor of photography, and Marguerite Boucicaut, patron and philanthropist.
Focusing on our field of study, the LISA depicts the 35th Montgolfiades, the annual hot-air balloon festival held in Chalon-sur-Saône since 1986. The balloon in the centre of the image is decorated with the town’s coat of arms.
Unfortunately, the only postmark available for this issue has no connection with the theme of the LISA.
Philaposte set up its large commercial stand at the back of the hall, with a temporary post office where visitors were able to obtain the philatelic products and postmarks issued for the event, as well as the LISA stamp from two IER NABANCO postal kiosks.
Both kiosks were especially programmed with the ‘stamps program’, a modified software which disables the usual 2D Datamatrix code and La Poste logo normally printed on the stamps issued by postal kiosks installed in post offices.
Following the major change at the beginning of the year (see article), stamps for standard mail are only available with two indicators, DD for domestic mail ‘LETTRE VERTE‘ and IP for international mail. It is also possible to purchase stamps for domestic registered mail (LETTRE RECOMMANDÉE) with the prefix AA.
(English edition rewritten by J. Gareze – March 2024)