tens of thousands of partygoers in a small village in Indre – Liberation

2023-05-18 15:11:19

The Teknival, high mass of techno music which took place every year in France in a different place until the end of the Covid pandemic, began Thursday, May 18 on an uncultivated plot of Villegongis.

Villegongis, a small village in Indre, transformed into a Mecca for partygoers for a weekend. Jean-Marc Sevault, mayor of the village of a hundred inhabitants located north of Châteauroux, saw the first vehicles arrive on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, May 18. Dozens of cars, vans and even semi-trailers, some registered abroad, flocked en masse for the Teknival, a techno music festival celebrating its 30th anniversary.

At midday this Thursday, the Indre prefecture, who had banned all such gatherings for the long Ascension weekend, estimated “at about 10,000 the number of teknivaliers”. According to the press release from the prefecture, the Teknival “could stand on the whole end of this week”. A source close to the organizers expects around 30,000 participants at the height of the event.

The festival has settled “on a private estate, a piece of land which is not cultivated” and whose owner was not informed, specifies Jean-Marc Sevault. “We were presented with a fait accompli, like everyone else, including the gendarmeswho are on hand to oversee the event, said the mayor.

“Now that it’s started, there is nothing more to do except to make sure that it goes as well as possible”

In Indre, as in many neighboring departments, the prefecture had issued decrees this week to prohibit “the illegal installation of any temporary festive gathering of a musical natureto no avail. “Now that it’s launched, there is nothing more to do except to ensure that it goes as well as possible, in good conditions and without incident”said Jean-Marc Sevault.

“The organization of this teknival was done without prior declaration, nor therefore consultation with the State services, which are nevertheless mobilizing with the local authorities of Indre to guarantee the peace of mind of the inhabitants and safety, in particular health. , some participants”, underlines the prefecture, which has activated a departmental operational center.

A security and rescue device is being deployed on the ground, she adds, recommending “stronglyto avoid the sector, where checks are carried out by the police on the basis of prefectural decrees. Eleven associations from various regions of France have indicated that they have deployed a health system on the Teknival site itself, mobilizing 130 volunteers to provide care and advice to participants (alcohol, narcotics, sexual health, etc.)

According to photos and videos posted on social networks by participants, the first speaker walls had started at midday to broadcast their electronic music on this vast meadow lined with trees. Renowned throughout Europe, the Teknival was created thirty years ago. His outfit had been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic which had prevented large gatherings. The Last Teknival”officialtook place in May 2019 on the Millevaches plateau, in Creuse, under particularly harsh weather conditions for the season, including snowfall.