The Teknival, high mass of techno music that took place every year in France in a different place until the end of the Covid pandemic, began to settle Thursday morning in a small village of the Indre, Villegongis, we learned from the mayor. According to Jean-Marc Sevault, mayor of the village of a hundred inhabitants located north of Châteauroux, the first vehicles arrived during the night in the town, where no one had been warned.
Dozens of vehicles, cars, vans and even semi-trailers, poured into Villegongis on Thursday morning, severely disrupting traffic. The festival was being installed "on a private domain, a plot of land that is not cultivated" and whose owner was not warned, said to AFP Jean-Marc Sevault, reached by phone. "We were presented with a fait accompli, like everyone, including the gendarmes" who are on site to supervise the event where tens of thousands of people are expected, including from border countries, said the mayor.
« Now that it's launched, there's nothing left to do except make sure it goes as smoothly as possible, in good conditions and without incident. »
Jean-Marc Sevault, Mayor of Villegongis
In the Indre as in many neighboring departments, the prefecture had taken this week orders to prohibit "the illegal installation of any temporary festive gathering of a musical nature", apparently in vain. "Now that it is launched, there is nothing more to do except make sure that it goes as well as possible, in good conditions and without incident," said Jean-Marc Sevault.
Renowned throughout Europe, the Teknival was created thirty years ago. Its holding had been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic which had prevented large gatherings. The last "official" Teknival took place in May 2019 on the Millevaches plateau, in the Creuse.