Despite the increasing circulation of Covid-19 in Ile-de-France and the resulting bans on gatherings, every weekend, they disembark by car, van or on foot by the hundreds, install perimeter walls Out of sight, turn up the volume and dance the night away until the early hours of the morning. Transforming the fields and forests of the Oise and the departments of the Grand Crown into a rave-party theater.
On August 15, nearly 500 revelers found themselves illegally in a field in Boutigny-sur-Essonne, in the south of Ile-de-France, in Essonne. “This time, it was a small delegation, prefers to relativize Patricia Bergdolt, the mayor (SE). We have had festivals of the same type that brought together up to 3000 people. These revelers meet regularly on this site which is owned by a private owner. They sometimes come from far away by car or train and do not hesitate to cover on foot, across fields, the last kilometers which separate our station from the place of the party. "
Noise pollution and waste
This Sunday at the end of the morning, the evacuation of the places was carried out calmly under the watchful eye of the gendarmes who established several checkpoints in order to test the blood alcohol levels and detect the presence of narcotics. At the end of this rave, three complaints were filed. Two by the municipality for noise pollution and illegal gathering in the context of an epidemic.
Another by the owner of the plot for illegal occupation of private land. “The edges of the field are littered with waste,” says Patricia Bergdolt. We are in a natural park and these gatherings also cause disturbances for the fauna. "
These illegal evenings, where the concept of freedom is set up as a way of life, usually so discreet, find themselves placed in full light. “There is a security risk for the participants, but above all a health risk during this period. No one can imagine that barrier gestures are respected there, ”a gendarme alarmed.
Newcomers pushed by the closure of night establishments
The doors of “classic” nightclubs remain closed, so raves take over. “People need to have fun, to get together. For my part, I have not yet returned, it's too dangerous, says Julie, 22, organizer of raves in Ile-de-France. There aren't any more at this time. Throughout the year, dozens are organized every weekend. It's just that we see them more! "
For example, two rave-parties were organized, over ten days, in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) at the beginning of July. In Val-d'Oise, the sound of bass regularly disturbs the soothing calm of the villages of Vexin. Along with Essonne, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines and Oise, the regional natural park is one of the most popular “spots” for chirpers. “Because there are plenty of fields, quite simply,” smiles Julie. In the inner suburbs, there are techno evenings in abandoned hangars or factories. "
"The boom boom all night long, it's unbearable"
Last weekend, around 400 revelers took to a fallow field, along the departmental 28, in the territory of the municipality of Sagy. The land, owned by a farmer, has long been used for raves. The evening made talk in the center of the village, of 1000 souls.
Val-d'Oise Newsletter
Every morning, the news of your department seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers. Learn more
“Their bass creates vibrations in the ground, they prevent people from sleeping, gets carried away by Jean-Pierre, manager of the Comptoir des Petits Auges restaurant, a stone's throw from the town hall. They come to disturb the inhabitants! That's enough. "You hear the boom boom all night long, it's unbearable," resumes this owner of a lodge.
In their chip house, parked in a rest area on the D28 for 40 years, Pascal and Olivier take a different look at the evenings organized on the site located a few hundred meters away. “A lot of times you see the kids coming out of the field on Sunday morning. They come, have fun and don't create a story. They even clean! Says Olivier, cigarette in his mouth.
"It is impossible to stop an evening of several hundred people"
“Sometimes, with the wind, the sound can reach homes but it is very minimal, should not be exaggerated, continues Pascal. We know the parents of some young people. If they do anything, they would be called to order. "
The party scene is often associated with debauchery, poorly attended, where alcohol flows freely and drugs are commonplace. “This is partly true. But it is democratizing. I see more and more young people aged 16, 17, students, whom they did not have there before, says Julie. They are drawn to the forbidden aspect, the freedom to do whatever they want. "
The gendarmes of Val-d'Oise, for their part, are trying as best they can to manage the proliferation of raves. In the end, they only act on the fringes of the holidays, without really having the resources to stop them.
"We arrive at 10 or 20, it is impossible to stop an evening of several hundred people, regrets a officer. We issue tickets on alcohol levels, the ban on driving in the fields… If we cannot prevent it upstream, we do what we can, with our means. "
"They know how to dispatcher the information intelligently"
The gendarmes scan social networks all week long in the hope of finding a lead or a place. It is thanks to this tedious work that a rave party was banned, by a prefectural decree, on the weekend of July 25 at the Faisan Doré, in Saint-Prix (Val-d'Oise). "Unfortunately, it is very rare that we manage to have information", laments this same gendarme.
Same feeling for this policeman from Oise. “When we saw the poster on Facebook earlier this week, which announced a utopiracy in the 60s, it sighed in more than one department, he smiles. The organizers are not amateurs, they know how to distribute information intelligently. "
Fishing for information therefore lasted five days, before learning what this gendarme of the department qualifies as "good news". The rave takes place in Essonne. “Usually, you don't find it until after it starts,” sighs the soldier. There is not enough information filtering upstream. "
A milieu of insiders difficult to infiltrate
Because the midst of the chirkers, nebulous, remains closed. Only initiates can be "invited" to raves, through text messages that are spread by word of mouth. Sometimes you even have to call a Hotline and enter a code to get the address or directions. On Facebook, you have to answer a series of questions to hope to integrate private groups where good tips are exchanged.
“On the networks, the profiles are inspected, to be sure that it is not about a police officer or a gendarme, adds Julie. All partygoers are prohibited from communicating the address of a rave on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Otherwise, it is taking the risk that the police will wait for us there and seize all the equipment. "
Teufeurs and police officers have been playing cat and mouse, constantly, for years. Julie would like a "common ground" to be found with the state. “It divides in the community. Purists want at all costs to keep the illegality, which according to them is the very essence of rave, she explains. I would like land to be made available, with very supervised evenings. It would be beneficial for everyone. "