Free parties have always existed and are the object of all fantasies because we brave the forbidden, defy the authorities and make fun of the power. Lack of safety and health rules, non-compliance of hearing rules, impact on the local environment, this image is as stereotypical as it is demonstrable. Then we can ask ourselves: What place can it occupy when all official festive establishments and festivals are suspended?
Looking back, we see that rave parties have always been despised by the various powers, and created in crisis contexts. Always denounced as a drug hub, with incomprehensible musical tastes, raves and free parties are experiencing this year, COVID obliges, a new revival of popularity and are again under fire of criticism.
The impact of the situation is causing many DJs to react, such as Joachim, who speaks very virulently, via his EPK releases and his participation in a signed forum on Libération on the decline of the electronic scene in France, where it is written “This is only possible with your collaboration [from the government] […] Without these artists, a whole section of the country’s cultural wealth collapses before our eyes. ».
This is how the actors of the night live it. Especially when, at the same time, other side activities benefit from the administrative reopening, such as salon-type events. This pushes many actors to raise their voices in the face of unilateral decisions on the part of the authorities, leaving them in an unbearable limbo and an anxiety one can imagine.
The survival of clubs and festivals in France will only be assured if they are reopened or if the sector is helped to cope with the ordeal it is undergoing. But the authorizations are delivered only for few exemptions. But it is a double-edged sword that the actors face, a real gamble on the health of their public and on their own survival, sometimes not knowing on which foot to dance.
And yet, these parties, far from any regulation, can provide examples of solidarity and understanding of the stakes on the part of the public, like the worst, with zero masks and zero physical distancing. It is therefore necessary to be doubly vigilant and sensitive to what the authorities are currently putting in place.
In any case, the resurgence of rave parties is underway, and seems inevitable in our current situation. This will remain the trend as long as the actors, artists, programmers, technicians and other party trades remain as despised and ignored by our institutions; doomed to disappear or to precariousness.
In the meantime: be careful and responsible.