The bargain hunters will have to wait another year.
The mayor of Lille Martine Aubry announced Tuesday in city council the cancellation of the clearance sale, event bringing together hundreds of thousands of people, initially scheduled for September 4 and 5, "as a precaution" in the face of uncertainties related to the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic.
❌ #BraderieDeLille 2021 canceled
The City of #Lille and the @ prefet59 have decided to cancel the 2021 edition.
The merchant clearance sale, the comic book sale at @PBALille and cultural events will be organized on September 4 and 5.
↪ https://t.co/v4a8nkkMeJ#cmlille pic.twitter.com/Vh1fi418Gh
- City of Lille (@lillefrance) June 29, 2021
This decision, a "heartbreak", is dictated by "the necessary continuation of vaccination which has not yet reached a sufficient level, as well as the arrival of new variants", a context which "causes a lot of uncertainties. », Indicated at the same time the mayor in a press release.
Martine Aubry explained that she had taken this decision "jointly" with the prefect of the North and had waited "at the latest" to decide.
"Perhaps we could hope that the vaccination rate would be even higher and perhaps we also weren't waiting for the variants that are already in our region today, especially those for which we have the most. worry because we have the most uncertainty, ”she underlined.
Cultural events and a merchant clearance sale
The event, considered the largest clearance sale in Europe and whose previous editions have attracted up to 2.5 million visitors from all over France and abroad, was already canceled last year due to health crisis.
In 2016, it was canceled due to the terrorist threat after the July 14 attack in Nice.
In 2021, "there will always be a merchant clearance sale, the Comic Strip clearance sale at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, cultural events throughout the weekend" underlined Martine Aubry on Tuesday.