The rave party is still going on in the north of the Dordogne

Even from afar, you can still hear the four speaker walls spitting out techno music. This Sunday, May 8, the rave party is still going on in the town of Jumilhac-le-Grand, on the border between Dordogne and Haute-Vienne. Between 3,000 and 4,000 people from all over France gathered on Friday evening on a mining wasteland for a “teknival”, a huge party, which was to last all weekend.

800 vehicles still on site

This Sunday at midday, the gendarmes check the first revelers who leave, on foot, by car or in a motorhome, on the small dirt road. But there are still a lot of people there, “about 800 vehicles”, according to the police. All access is blocked 150 soldiers are on sitewith a helicopter, dog teams, negotiators, firefighters and the Red Cross.

Camille, Alex and their friends have just passed the controls, they walk along the road, towards their car. They traveled five hours from Normandy to come here. “We come for the music, the meetings. It’s a passion. We dance, we do what we want for two days before returning to normal life”, they say. On Monday, Camille will go back to class, she is studying to be a nurse’s aide.

A little further in the hamlet, in the back seat of her Clio, Anissa is resting after a long night of tapping her feet, to the sound of what she describes as “one of the biggest sound systems in France”. She’s 22, she’s been coming for seven years “in party”. She understands that this raises questions, but for her, it’s exactly the same thing as going to a nightclub. Better. “We have space, you don’t have sweaty people sticking to you, there’s always a good atmosphere. It’s true that the neighbors must think we’re weird, but we’re normal! We just wants to have fun”she said, laughing.

Some verbalizations

The gendarmes proceeded to a few verbalizations, for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. The prosecutor of Périgueux opened an investigation, in particular for “non-prior declaration of a festive gathering”, “noise nuisance”, “degradation”. This Sunday evening, no reveler was arrested or taken into custody.