The last one took place this weekend. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, nearly 500 partygoers danced until the early hours in an abandoned warehouse near the Vern-sur-Seiche oil depot, southeast of Rennes. Everything took place calmly even if the mayor broke out in a cold sweat when he saw a rave party set up near a Seveso classified site. In Brittany, the phenomenon of partying has been well established for many years with “between two and four raves” every weekend in the region, according to figures from the prefecture. In Ille-et-Vilaine alone, around fifty “festive gatherings of a musical nature” were recorded last year. A figure down compared to 2022 and with parties bringing together fewer people. “It looks more like birthday raves,” says Philippe Gustin.
In office since this summer, the new prefect of Brittany does not seem to appreciate big bass in any case. Less in any case than his predecessor Emmanuel Berthier. In the fall of 2022, the latter began consultation work with rave party organizers in order to better supervise these events. And also to better distribute them across the territory so that it is not always the same municipalities that toast. But to find land for them to install the speakers, the authorities asked in advance that the organizers make themselves known. A dialogue remained at a standstill, the prefecture having not received any request for authorization to date.
“We cannot discuss with people who do illegal things”
Faced with this failure, Philippe Gustin decided to tighten the screw by opting for a more secure approach. Goodbye therefore to dialogue because “we cannot discuss with people who do illegal things”, he assures. “And I cannot accept that we disturb people in this way and that we enter private property,” continues the prefect. As with drug trafficking, he proposes to “hit the wallet” of rave party organizers by seizing their sound equipment at each party. A seizure already requested by some prosecutors in the region but not for all.
Hence the desire of the prefect of the Brittany region for “better coordination” between the authorities. “It shouldn’t be easier to organize a rave party in Ille-et-Vilaine than in Morbihan,” says Philippe Berthin, who risks not making many friends in the party world.