  The VIMOS VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) is underway to study the evolution of
galaxies, large scale structures and AGNs, from the measurement of more than
100000 spectra of faint objects. We present here the results from the first
epoch observations of more than 20000 spectra. The main challenge of the
program, the redshift measurements, is described, in particular entering the
``redshift desert'' in the range $1.5<z<3$ for which only very weak features
are observed in the observed wavelength range. The redshift distribution of a
magnitude limited sample brighter than $I_{AB}=24$ is presented for the first
time, showing a peak at a low redshift $z\sim0.7$, and a tail extending all the
way above $z=4$. The evolution of the luminosity function out to $z=1.5$ is
presented, with the LF of blue star forming galaxies carrying most of the
evolution, with L* changing by more than two magnitudes for this sub-sample.
