Unauthorised raves, long a fringe pastime with a hardcore techno following, have found a new fan base among young people in Paris denied a dance floor by the pandemic.
Licensed nightclubs have been closed in France since March under measures to contain the coronavirus, prompting DJs, who claim their sector risks “extinction”, to launch an urgent appeal to the government last month for the authorisation of “emergency party areas”, reports news agency Agence France-Presse.
In the meantime, “free parties” have sprung up around the capital, drawing new followers in young people unfamiliar with the underground techno dance scene, but desperate for a chance to let their hair down.
The Bois de Vincennes, a massive park with lakes, woods and open green spaces in the south-east of Paris, is at the epicentre of the phenomenon.
From the nearest metro stop, partygoers walk about 15 minutes, following the beat of the bass, until they find one of dozens of clandestine parties, hidden in the woods, in clearings illuminated by fairy lights.
In July, “free parties” in the park attracted as many as a thousand people at a time, many flouting guidelines to wear face masks and keep a safe distance from others to avoid contracting the coronavirus.
“I had never seen anything like it, it was completely crazy,” Illa Giannotti, cofounder of the Soeurs Malsaines (Sick Sisters) party-planning collective, said of the clamour.
Raves first appeared in France in the 1990s and were popular until a 2001 law forced organisers to register with the police beforehand, pushing a large, rebel section of the scene, and its faithful followers, underground.
