More than 1,500 people gathered on Sunday at a free party in Basse-Goulaine, near Nantes.

According to the prefecture, this free party started in the night from Friday to Saturday and brought together "1,500 to 2,000 people at the most important" of the demonstration, without respecting barrier gestures.

More than 1,500 people were gathered on Sunday at a free party in Basse-Goulaine, near Nantes, under close surveillance by the gendarmes who checked all vehicles leaving the site with screening for drugs and alcohol, said the Loire prefecture. -Atlantique and Pays de la Loire.

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The ARS invites participants to get tested and to respect the rules

According to the prefecture, this free party started on the night of Friday to Saturday and brought together "1,500 to 2,000 people at the most important" of the demonstration, with an audience of "young and much less young".

A gathering without respect for barrier gestures against the Covid-19 epidemic, according to state services.

"Some had a mask, others did not", explained the prefecture, confirming information from the local media and stressing "that these are people difficult to sensitize".

According to the prefecture, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) "invited the participants to be tested and to respect the rules".

The prefect had issued a decree prohibiting the "transport of sound equipment and the purchase of alcohol"

Friday evening, the organizers had tried to settle in downtown Nantes while the prefect had issued a decree prohibiting the "transport of sound means and to buy alcohol".

The police intervened, notably confiscating sound equipment.

Several people were arrested and some police officers were injured, according to the prefecture.

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The organizers then decided on the night of Friday to Saturday to fall back on the nearby countryside of Nantes, in Basse-Goulaine, forming a large convoy.

The authorities have put in place a "security system", in particular because the chosen site is bordered by a national road which could represent a danger for the participants, coming mainly from the Nantes area, but also from Vendée.

While some came on foot from Nantes, the authorities installed luminous balloons to illuminate the roads and thus "avoid an accident".

About twenty verbalizations related to narcotics

According to the prefecture, the confiscation of part of the sound equipment nevertheless made it possible "to dissuade" the possible participants.

Sunday noon, the gendarmes carried out a systematic check of all the vehicles leaving the free party area, where there were still 1,500 participants.

According to a first assessment, the gendarmerie proceeded to twenty verbalizations related to narcotics, fifteen for driving under narcotics, and ten for lack of license or insurance.