NEIGHBOURS DAY. This Friday, June 2, 2023, it’s Neighbours’ Day! A good opportunity to strengthen ties between neighbors or to fight against individualism. Here are 5 good reasons to participate!
[Updated May 30, 2023 7:02 PM] Designed to fight individualism in big cities, Neighbours’ Day is no ordinary block party. First, it may be an opportunity for you to have a good surprise, to meet more interesting people than you thought. And yes, it is high time to go beyond appearances, to discover the true personality of the grumbling granny on the 5th floor or the cheeky musician on the ground floor. Secondly, if you are a fan of the stove, you will finally be able to share your latest culinary success (revisited olive cake, tiramisu with speculoos, etc.). Third, sportsmen! Love playing basketball in the courts downstairs but don’t have a playmate? You never know, maybe this will be your chance to find a teammate! Fourth, don’t forget that the notion of solidarity can be created between neighbors and this can be very useful. Who knows, the neighbors with whom you will have sympathized will be able to help you out from time to time, watch your children, repair a plumbing problem? Fifth, any excuse is good for a drink, right?
The Fête des Voisins is a convivial moment, an opportunity to break the ice and get to know those who live near you better (all the information on the official website)! Check out a fun slideshow below that demonstrates the (sometimes very quirky) humor neighbors can bring to each other:
Since 2010, La Fête des Voisins has always been held on a Friday. Before this date, the Neighbors Day was held on Tuesdays. The change in timing is rather appropriate for all residents who do not work on weekends and who can thus take advantage of this moment of sharing later. In 2023, Neighbors Day is scheduled for this Friday, June 2. Regarding the schedules, the Neighbors Day generally takes place from 7 p.m. But the inhabitants of each neighborhood or building are of course free to do as they wish!
Before the health crisis, the Budget Maison site had carried out a survey of 1,568 French people about their relations with neighbors. Turns out, they can be heated…or stormy. For half of those surveyed, the main sources of tension between neighbors are noise-related. In fact, 52% of those surveyed are bothered by daytime and nighttime disturbances, 38% by arguments from their neighbours, 21% by annoying parking spaces, 12% by lovemaking and 11% by invasive animals. Finally, 9% consider their neighbors too intrusive. 73% of respondents have encountered major problems with one of their neighbours, summing up to a verbal altercation for 38% of cases, a complaint or handrail for 32% of cases, an intervention by the police or the gendarmerie for 21% of cases or threats for 9% of cases.
And what are the qualities that make a “good neighbor” on the other hand? 51% of respondents cited the services they can provide, 23% cited friendliness, but also discretion for 12% of them, followed by solidarity for 8% and then politeness for 6% of the remaining votes . 59% of respondents have forged a real friendly relationship with their neighbors (51% call them by their first name) while 51% say they do not share good times with their neighbors. Another not less crisp revelation, 19% of respondents have already had a love affair with their neighbor and 5% have formed a couple with one of them. It should also be noted that more than a third of respondents (39%) have already fantasized about their neighbor! Another Kantar TNS study for Verisure showed that 9 out of 10 French people trust their neighbors in particular to monitor their accommodation in their absence (65%).
Created in 1990 by Atanase Périfan through his association “Paris d’amis”, the event aimed to bring together the inhabitants of cities and the countryside around an aperitif or a meal. Initiatives of the same kind already existed in France in many cities well before 1999. But the Fête des Voisins “institutionalized” this meeting, which even began to be relayed by the municipalities. Proof of the success of the operation: it goes beyond the borders, now taken over in Belgium, Canada, Turkey and in hundreds of European cities (where it bears the name of “European neighbours’ day”).
With this Neighbors Day, Atanase Périfan is campaigning for “local solidarity” in the face of a “consumerist society” which “generates isolation and indifference”. The founder of the Fête des Voisins explains in a press release that “there is a real difficulty, even a relational suffering. And not just among the elderly… And yet, there are sources of generosity among the inhabitants”.
If this derivative of Immeubles en fête briefly existed between 2012 and 2014, the Neighbors Day at work has been back since 2018! At its beginning, this meeting was organized in October by the Fondation Agir Contre l’Exclusion (then chaired by Gérard Mestrallet, CEO of GDF Suez) and consisted of meeting employees of the same company or employees of companies sharing the same office building. Today, it has taken another form under the leadership of Immeubles en fête. Atanase Périfan initiated the Fête des Voisins au Travail for the first time on the forecourt of La Défense in 2012 with Gérard Mestrallet. In an unstable economic context where the pressure is increasing day by day, the idea of ??the “Neighbours’ Day at Work” started from a conviction: the real wealth of the company is above all the human capital. and well-being at work.
