Boost the rural environment !
Various studies carried out in 2011 and 2012 have highlighted the disappearance of places for meeting and exchanging views.
The Natural Regional Parks of the Massif Central, grouped together in the IPAMAC association, have therefore concentrated on bistros, small businesses that are often the heart of each village, and which are gradually dying out. Indeed, in the 1960s there were more than 200,000, whereas today there are hardly more than 30,000.
What is the future of these social gathering places in rural areas? How economically viable are they? A place for meeting, exchanging views, creating social links? A bistro for culture, or a bistro culture?
To answer these questions, three projects have been carried out over the whole Massif Central
A musical programme
A cultural programme in bistros based on the success of Bistrots d’Hiver (winter bistros), an event organised by the Pays’Sage association in the Millevaches park.

The evening is composed of 3 highlights:
- a talk-drink with a speaker
- a meal with local products
- a concert
A photographic exhibition
A travelling photographic exhibition entitled: “Un bistrot sinon rien ! Grands espaces et petits lieux du Massif Central” (“A bistro or nothing! Wide open spaces and small places in the Massif Central”) by Pierrick Bourgault. It has been exhibited in different bistros around the Massif Central, and today you can see it in the offices of the Parc des Grands Causses in Millau.
A practical guide
The guide is the result of a socio-economic study carried out in 2013 in eight areas of the Massif Central by a multi-disciplinary team (sociologist, geographer, economist, photographer).
It contains 16 practical fact sheets to help bistros thrive, based on 16 bistro portraits from around the Massif Central.
In the Grands Causses, the Lou Paouzadou auberge in Buzeins and the Hôtel du Nord in Cornus opened their doors to the project team !
A guide aimed at :
- people wishing to take over or develop a bistro
- elected members wishing to re-open or create a bistro
- the owner/manager of a bistro who wishes to expand his/her business by programming musical events or diversifying his/her activities
- organisations that offer help to the above categories of people