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Background Of The Parks

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Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Fairs, Aristocratic Festivals, "Follies", Theatre Gardens

In the sixteenth century, there were already places where people could spend their leisure time.
The lower classes had their fairs, large markets where they would come to display their wares and also to enjoy the hoopla (the forerunner of the merry-go-rounds, played on real horses!) and take in acrobatic performances, for a modest fee.
As for the aristocracy, they thoroughly enjoyed Court festivals.
The middle class took great delight in the "follies", the magnificent gardens of private homes, which were greatly in vogue at that time, when the virtues of nature and pastoral pleasures were extolled. There one could enjoy dances, fireworks, swings, and hoopla. They also benefitted from vauxhalls, luxurious theatre gardens, the first of which was instituted in London, in 1732, where one paid an admission fee, and whose principal attraction was the magnificent circular festival hall that accommodated both the theatre and the circus.
Suddenly, along came the French Revolution, overthrowing the existing order and its social divisions. Since the accent was on Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, festivals would now have to serve to unite the nation! "Follies" and other gardens were appropriated to turn them into libertarian places open to all.

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