In Brittany, this school raffle triggers madness with VIP places for Céline Dion

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With two VIP tickets to see Céline Dion in Paris, a school in Rennes saw the excitement surrounding its end-of-year raffle soar.

This year in this primary school in Brittany, the students don’t really need to insist for long to sell their raffle tickets. According to West Francethe parents’ association (Apel) of the Saint-Clément school in Rennes had to revise its forecasts in the face of the enthusiasm aroused by the operation. Ticket books are being snapped up and demand far exceeds that of previous years.

“When I talked about it, everyone wanted notebooks.”tells the regional daily Thomas Couasnon, president of the establishment’s Apel. But why? To understand this unusual enthusiasm, we must look at the first prize put into play.

The winner of the first prize in this raffle will walk away with two VIP tickets to attend one of Céline Dion’s concerts planned in Paris next fall.

A lot far from being trivial. After several years of absence, the Quebec singer is preparing her return to the stage in front of the French public. Tickets sold out at record speed, leaving many fans frustrated and without a seat. So obviously, many see the raffle of this primary school as a new inexpensive chance to try to see the artist in live.

« She could have sold them for much more elsewhere. »

Still according to West Francethese tickets come from a student’s mother who had managed to obtain a pack of several places. A part was finally given to the parents’ association in order to fund the raffle. “She kept four for her family and offered Apel to buy two at cost. We’re lucky that she gave priority to the association, because she could have sold them for much more elsewhere.“, says Thomas Couasnon.

If the bet is bold, because unlike the prizes usually offered by local sponsors these places represented an investment for the association, the organizers hope that the operation will make it possible to raise more funds to finance the school’s projects. “Usually, we sell between 3,000 and 5,000 tickets, this time we have doubled the number of raffle books to print. We are at 10,000 tickets“, rejoices the president of the parents’ association. Looks like things are going well.