Several hundred people had been participating since Saturday morning in an illegal rave party in Feniers, in the Creuse, we learned from the prefecture, which had issued orders to prohibit this type of gathering citing the risk of an outbreak of contamination by Covid-19. At the end of the day, between 400 and 500 festival-goers, most of whom arrived during the night, were still on military land in this town located in the south of the Creuse.
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In the morning, the prefecture had taken two orders to prohibit this weekend, in view of the "current health context", "festive gatherings of a musical nature" while it feared a massive influx, with the arrival of 2000 to 2500 people until Monday.
An important security device of 200 gendarmes, supported by a helicopter, was deployed within a radius of 10 km around the site to prevent the arrival of other revelers and trucks carrying sound equipment.
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"There will be no evacuation, but the police are doing the deterrence" , indicates Albert Holl, chief of staff of the prefecture of Creuse. "The gendarmes proceed to verbalizations and arrests so that this illegal demonstration stops as quickly as possible" , he specifies. “We are in an epidemic period and there is a risk of progression of the virus. There is a risk of forming a cluster (source of contamination, editor's note) and it must be prevented ”.
According to the prefecture, the Red Cross and firefighters are on site to "encourage festival-goers to respect barrier gestures and distancing". Several prefectures have taken orders this summer to prevent rave parties and other wild outdoor parties due to the health crisis.