Several hundred people gathered this Saturday for an illegal rave party in Feniers, in the Creuse. At the end of the day, 400 to 500 festival-goers, most of them arriving during the night, were still on military land in this town located in the south of the department.
The prefecture took in the morning 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.
Verbalizations and interpellations
"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 assures us.
According to the prefecture, the Red Cross and firefighters are on site to "encourage festival-goers to respect barrier gestures and distancing". Several prefectures took orders this summer to prevent rave parties and other wild outdoor parties due to the health crisis.