The electronic music party had already started on Friday. On Saturday, a collective of supporters spoke of “35,000 to 40,000” participants from France and neighboring countries who had come to the event in central France. The authorities had spoken of 20,000 participants on Saturday morning; but by evening numerous more visitors flocked to the site.
“Despite its illegal nature,” the authorities took care of the security of the event, as the responsible prefecture explained. Hundreds of police officers and dozens of firefighters were on duty.
Venue extremely dangerous
Philippe Le Moing Surzur of the regional administration told AFP the venue was “extremely dangerous because of unexploded projectiles that may be there.”
Local authorities said on Saturday that explosives experts had to intervene after a grenade was discovered near a road that runs through the event site.
The “Teknival” organizers said they had consciously chosen the site near Interior Minister Laurent Nunez’s birthplace, Bourges. They said it was about a protest against plans to tighten penalties against organizers and participants of comparable free parties. Accordingly, organizers should be able to be sentenced to up to six months in prison in the future; So far the only threat is a fine.
For his part, Nunez said on site that the organizers’ demands would only strengthen the French government’s “determination” in its course.
