Isère: the undeclared rave-party is growing, nearly 1500 people on site

The authorities feared that the number of participants in this illegal rave party would increase throughout the weekend, the figures eventually prove them right. Between Friday and Sunday, the number of "teufeurs" present at this undeclared event in the countryside of Roybon, Isère, tripled to some 1,500 people, said the prefecture of the department.

Rave-party in #Roybon: @prefet38 activated a crisis unit on site with @sdis38 and @Gendarmerie_038. 👮300 vehicles checked since the beginning of the event
👮43 fines for drug use
The owner of the field filed a complaint
➡️https://t.co/c4u70Vq6BP pic.twitter.com/twTFUYQBiJ

— Prefect of Isère 🇨🇵🇪🇺 (@Prefet38) May 28, 2023

The festive gathering had begun in the night from Friday to Saturday around 2:00 am "on private land, an agricultural field sown," said the prefecture, adding that the participants had increased from 450 Friday to 1,500 Sunday morning.

300 vehicles checked, 43 fines distributed

In a statement, the prefect announced that he had activated a crisis cell on site including firefighters, gendarmes and rescuers until the end of the rave-party, which according to the prefecture "could last until Monday".

The gendarmes of Isère and Drôme, bordering department, are deployed on the roads that serve the area since Saturday morning. Since the beginning of the event, 300 vehicles have been checked and 43 fixed fines have been issued for drug use.

According to the local press, this gathering takes place near the Bois des Avenières, near the former ZAD (zone to defend), occupied between 2014 and 2020 by opponents of the Center Parcs project carried by the Pierre et vacances group, finally abandoned in the summer of 2020.

The owner of the field filed a complaint

Several raves have already taken place in Isère. Last November, a 17-year-old boy was seriously injured when he fell heavily at a rave-party organized on private land in Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage. He would have fallen for nearly 200 meters, "in a very steep and rugged part of land".

The owner of the field, whose harvest was "devastated", filed a complaint yesterday with the gendarmerie, said the prefecture.