Rave party in Lozère: investigation and seizure of equipment

Justice has opened an investigation for the organization of an undeclared demonstration and equipment was seized after a giant rave party organized in the Cévennes National Park, the Mende prosecutor said on Thursday (August 13th).

Read also: Lozère: how a wild rave party ravaged an agricultural site

This wild “ rave ”, which brought together several thousand people between Saturday evening and Wednesday, in the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic, shocked residents of Lozère, one of the French departments least affected by the virus. The seizures - including a truck, a trailer, two generators and four " sound-systems " - " will give rise to hearings of people holding these materials, " said the prosecutor Xavier Sicot, who spoke of an " investigation in long course ”.

The prefect of Lozère Valérie Hatsch had given Wednesday afternoon " the order to evacuate the illegally occupied site " by up to 10,000 revelers since Saturday in Hures-la-Parade, on the vast limestone plateau of the Causse Méjean.

A protected site

In France, gatherings of more than 5,000 people are prohibited due to the coronavirus epidemic. The Causses and Cévennes site has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2011, in particular for the landscapes shaped by agro-pastoralism over three millennia.

The nature, scale and duration of this illegal gathering in an environmental zone with a fragile and protected ecosystem, moreover in times of pandemic, have aroused the indignation of certain inhabitants of Lozère. Ms. Hatch spoke on site Wednesday with landowners and affected farmers to assess the condition of the site after the evacuation. " Agro-pastoralism will resume its rights on this part of the Causse Méjean ", she assured.