The music will not resonate in the streets of Tarbes, Pau or Lourdes this year. Following the violent storms that affected a large part of the France on Tuesday night, several cities have decided to cancel their festivities planned for the music festival, which takes place this Wednesday throughout the country.
Météo France placed nineteen departments on orange alert Wednesday evening, leading prefectures to urge caution and some municipalities to waive all or part of the festivities. 46 other departments have been placed on yellow alert.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine mostly concerned
On Wednesday morning, the city of Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and its neighbors of Tarbes and Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées) had announced to cancel all events related to the music festival, because of the significant damage suffered. Espelette pepper crops in particular have particularly suffered.
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region is particularly concerned, with total bans decreed elsewhere in Dax and Capbreton (Landes), or partial bans in Agen (Lot-et-Garonne), Blaye (Gironde) and Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).
On the side of the regional capital, Bordeaux, "several organizers prefer to cancel some outdoor stages, or move them indoors for security reasons," informed the town hall in a statement, specifying that 11 of the 12 outdoor concerts were canceled.
Cancellations throughout the France
Elsewhere in France, several cities are also announcing that they are taking preventive measures. In Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) or Bourges (Cher), concerts on the public space have been canceled because of forecasts requiring according to Météo France "particular vigilance insofar as there is a risk of violent phenomena, strong accumulations of rain in a short time, hail, and locally strong gusts of wind".
Contacted by Le Parisien, the prefecture of Tarn-et-Garonne said that the prefect "recommended to cancel the demonstrations". The concerts that were to be held in the prefecture and the departmental council have already been canceled.
[#FlashInfo]⚠️⛈️
In view of the current bad weather conditions, the @tarnetgaronne82 is obliged to cancel the Fête de la musique for security reasons.
i️https://t.co/le8ww8smPw pic.twitter.com/2NQWQdiGhQ
— Department of Tarn-et-Garonne (@tarnetgaronne82) June 21, 2023
The department has already been heavily affected by the bad weather Tuesday night, which required more than 270 interventions by firefighters. One college was closed due to the damage. The prefecture says it expects new thunderstorms with wind gusts that could reach "80 to 100 km / h", heavy rainfall and hail.
On Twitter, the prefecture of Haute-Vienne asked for "the cancellation of the festivities planned outdoors" and "any other event including marquees, tents and structures", just like in Corrèze, where the prefect also invites the organizers "to be vigilant for the festivities held near the rivers. "
In the Yonne, placed in orange vigilance, no cancellation for the time being but the prefecture calls on the municipalities to "ensure the protection and safety of the population with regard to the risk of violent orange, including by considering the cancellation of scheduled events".