The show has been running for forty years. Every year in August, the pilots of the famous Patrouille de France put on a show in the skies of Perros-Guirec, performing acrobatics above the splendid Pink Granite Coast in Brittany. However, organizing the 41st edition this summer proved very complicated. On February 20, the Ministry of the Armed Forces informed the town hall that the airshow could not take place due to the Paris Olympic Games.
Stunned by the cancellation of this highlight of the summer season, which each time attracts tens of thousands of spectators to Trestraou beach, the Breton town has not given up. On April 2, the town hall of Perros-Guirec joyfully announced on its networks the arrival of the acrobats on Saturday June 22.
June, nesting and incubation period
But this Monday, a new turnaround in the situation. In a press release sent to 20 minutes, the municipality announced that the Patrouille de France would finally perform in the skies of Perros-Guirec on September 7 and 8. A new change of date linked to the neighboring Sept-Îles nature reserve, a true wildlife sanctuary which is home to more than 20,000 pairs of seabirds and 27 nesting species.
“Following discussions with the curator of the Sept-Îles national nature reserve, the mayor of Perros-Guirec requested the General Staff of the Air and Space Force to set a date in September in order to respect the nesting and incubation period of seabirds in June,” specifies the municipality.
The perimeter of the Sept-Iles reserve extended
For nature lovers, this rescheduling of the air show is therefore good news. On condition, however, “that we maintain a circle of avoidance of Rouzic Island because the nesting of the gannets is not yet completed in September,” underlines Pascal Provost, curator of the reserve, interviewed by West France.
In a decree published in July 2023, the perimeter of the Sept-Iles reserve was considerably extended, from 280 to 19,700 hectares. Demanded for a long time by the League for the Protection of Birds, this extension aims to “protect the natural marine heritage, in particular kelp forests and fields of gorgonians, rocky high plateaus and the species that depend on them”. It also aims to “strengthen the preservation of the particularly rich and diverse nesting marine avifauna in this sector, as well as that of the gray seal colony”, specifies the decree.