Published
Aug 12, 2016
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Lille Braderie 2016 cancelled

Published
Aug 12, 2016

On Friday 5 August, the residents of the French northern city of Lille, the "Lillois", learned the sad news. At a press conference held by the city's mayor, Martine Aubry stated: "It is a question of moral responsibility were it to be held. I think then that the 2016 braderie should be cancelled."


The crowd at the Lille Braderie, 5th September 2015 - AFP/Archives


The biggest flea market in Europe, attracting 2.5 million visitors in 2015 and over 10,000 sellers, the Lille Braderie is an institution for not only the region but for the entire country. Last year, 2,000 civil servants, police and law enforcement officers, as well as 600 paramedics, firefighters and first-aid workers were enlisted for the event.

Martine Aubry explained that the governing body had obtained "significant support" towards the security of the event from the Ministry of the Interior but the socialist mayor believes that regardless, "maximum security" could not be guaranteed.

The announcement was undoubtedly very hard to swallow by the city's hotel and restaurant industry, for whom the braderie translates into major revenue. Thierry Grégoire, president of the regional trade union for the hotel industry (Union des métiers et des industries de l'hôtellerie de la région des Hauts-de-France) told French radio station France Info: "Some of the hotels generate 10% of their annual revenue during the braderie." Claude Sohet, president of the city's federation of commerce, has declared the decision as an "economic and cultural catastrophe".

Locals, tourists and antique hunters will not enjoy the traditional festivities, the bargains at the stalls or the good deals in stores. The Prefect of the Northern region nevertheless reassured the people: "We will restructure a new model of the braderie and together with government services we will put on an exceptional edition in 2017."

Dating back to the 12th century, the braderie is always held in Lille the first weekend of September. Not your regular flea market, it features festivities all weekend long, such as musical entertainment, a fairground and various runs, not to mention the city-wide mussels challenge during the event which consists of stacking the biggest pile of empty mussel shells outside of the restaurants, “Moules frites” being the traditional dish of the event.

The last time the Lille Braderie was cancelled was during World War II.
 

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