‘In A Growing Market, Each Venue Is Finding Its Place & Identity’: Q’s With Lily Fisher, Director, Zénith Paris – La Villette

France boasts one of the greatest venue infrastructures in all of Europe. Among them are the Zénith venues, “Zénith” being the French term to describe a large concert hall. Three of them, Toulouse, Nantes, and Paris, are operated by Colling & Cie, where Lily Fisher is a partner. She is also the director of Zénith Paris – La Villette, and therefore the ideal woman to speak with when trying to gage the state of the French venue circuit.

Pollstar: How’s business looking across your venue portfolio?
Lily Fisher: Our company, Colling & Cie, operates three Zénith venues — in Paris, Nantes and Toulouse — and business is growing steadily across the board. Since 2020, we’ve seen a clear acceleration in the live sector, driven by strong and sustained audience demand.

All three Zéniths have modular capacities, allowing us to adjust configurations to suit the show. Toulouse is the largest, with up to 11,000 capacity, followed by Nantes (around 9,000) and Paris (nearly 7,000). This flexibility is a real asset — it lets us accommodate a wide range of formats and manage risk alongside promoters by adapting capacity to ticket sales.

How does 2025 compare to 2024 in terms of ticket sales?
2024 (was) an exceptional year, with record attendance and an especially rich program — not to mention the excitement around the Olympic Games. 2025 is shaping up to be just as strong, with many tours already confirmed and continued enthusiasm from the public. We’re seeing increasing anticipation: some shows go on sale nearly two years in advance, and some sell out in minutes — even for emerging artists.

Any notable trends you’re observing in live touring that affect your business?
Yes, several: Tour planning is happening earlier; young artists are emerging rapidly, boosted by social media audiences. There’s a clear shift toward tiered offers, with wider price ranges between standard and premium packages. While we haven’t yet hosted dynamic pricing at Zénith, we’re preparing for it, and in many ways, today’s varied ticket offers are already a step in that direction. Audiences expect a full experience: concerts are now moments of emotion, social connection, and identity. Social media plays a major role before, during and after the show; concerts have become “the place to be.”

Has local repertoire become more important in recent years?
The French scene has always been vibrant, led by major names such as Mylène Farmer, Gims, Ninho, Philippe Katerine, Julien Doré, Indochine or Orelsan — all of whom play increasingly large venues, often selling out multiple dates or even stadiums.

There’s a real renewed interest in French-language acts, especially among younger audiences. Talents like Zaho de Sagazan, Santa or Théodora are now filling major venues despite being at early stages of their careers — and some already have international visibility. That said, international artists remain very present, and Paris continues to be an essential stop on every major world tour.

What challenges and what opportunities do you identify for your business in 2025?
The main challenge is to meet the expectations of a passionate, curious and demanding audience — in a time where lived experience is everything. The “Pass Culture” scheme, set up by the French government, plays a key role by enabling many young people to attend their first concert — often a formative experience.

On the production side, we need to constantly anticipate and offer tailored solutions. Artists increasingly want to make the venue their own, crafting unique experiences for their fans. We see it more and more — with large-scale, sometimes airborne sets, spectacular effects, and innovative scenography. It’s up to us to stay agile and support them.

Our Zénith venues, purpose-built for live performance, offer a rare combination of large capacity, artistic proximity, and modularity. This connection between artist and audience is a real strength and sets us apart from venues that also host sporting events.

Anything you would like to add?
The concert venue landscape has changed significantly in recent years, especially in Paris where there are now many large-capacity options. But with a growing market, each venue is finding its place and its identity. Zénith’s identity is to stay true to its DNA: a venue dedicated to popular music and the younger generation. It’s worth noting that 70% of our audience is under 30. Concert venues are clearly on the rise — unlike festivals, they allow artists to fully realise their production, including set design and technical ambitions, and to perform directly in front of their fans.

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