The participants speak of resistance, the authorities of unconsciousness: as every year, the summer was marked by the organization of hundreds of "rave parties" or "free parties", these undeclared techno parties in the heart of nature, the pandemic, the bête noire of the authorities. "The more we are prevented from celebrating, the more we celebrate", sums up one of the active members of the movement, Grégoire dit Pontu, a nickname that protects him from what the community calls "repression" authorities.
Since the 90s, the “free party” movement brings together techno music aficionados who identify with a certain way of life: sometimes nomadic, often in communities and nourished by libertarian or anarchist ideologies. "Because of the epidemic, there are fewer events this year than in previous years, but attention has focused a lot on these events and the repression is much stronger," Robin told AFP. organizer of "free parties", who prefers to remain anonymous.
Evacuations are rare
According to figures from the Sons Legal Support Fund, an association that helps organizers facing fines or seizures, 22 equipment seizures were made in 2020, including four for the weekend of August 15 alone. This is twice as many as in previous years, for noticeably fewer parties, he explains.
The national gendarmerie, questioned by AFP, does not wish to communicate on the subject. A regional official nevertheless affirms that the national doctrine is now to limit the gatherings in progress, by blocking access as soon as possible. But evacuations are still rare.
No respect for barrier gestures
“We cannot let 5,000, 6,000 people gather together, shirtless, without any respect for barrier gestures, without wearing masks. It is not possible ”, had hammered in July Marlène Schiappa, delegate for Citizenship at the Ministry of the Interior, dispatched to the site of a“ free party ”of 4,000 people organized in the Nièvre. On August 15, in front of the 7,000 "chirps" gathered in Lozère in the heart of the Cévennes, for three days, nearly 200 gendarmes had been mobilized to speed up the outings and seize equipment, including speakers and generators.
Seizures that sometimes allow the police to trace the organizers. The latter incur a fine of up to 3,500 euros for "organizing an undeclared festive event giving rise to amplified music". For “sound assault”, the penalty can amount to one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros.
No outbreak of infection linked to a "free party" has been reported
For the elected officials of the municipalities where revelers arrive, it is often a shock: Patricia Bergdolt, mayor of Boutigny-sur-Essonne, a peaceful village with an aging population, felt "powerless" in the face of several hundred "ravers", disembarked in the middle of the night for two days of intense celebration before being evacuated. “With so many people who arrive in the town and are no longer able, with alcohol and high, to respect barrier gestures, how do you want to reassure the population? She wonders.
To date, no outbreak of infection linked to a "free party" has been reported by a regional health agency in France. "We are outside, in the middle of nature, less glued than in a bar and then we also have a culture of risk reduction, for example we no longer spin the bottles", assures his side the "chugger" Grégoire.
Like many, he wishes to intensify the “resistance of the dancing people”, as the saying goes. "The free party will take other forms if the repression increases, we will attend events either smaller, or really bigger," predicts Robin, of the Support Fund. "When there are 20,000 people who arrive in a place, it becomes more difficult to make them leave".
Miscellaneous
Loire: The gendarmes intervened to block a free-party
Culture
VIDEO. “Does rave still make people dream?”: Twenty years later, a Free Party, what does it give?
- Dance
- Night
- Covid 19
- Police
- Coronavirus
- Rave
- Society