Concerts cancelled due to France riots

A number of concerts and festivals in France have been cancelled as a result of the ongoing riots in Paris.

More than 3,200 arrests have been made amid violent protests and looting sparked by the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy by police during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb last Tuesday (27 June).

The biggest events to be called off for security reasons were Mylène Farmer’s two nights at the 90,000-cap Stade de France, which were due to take place on 30 June and 1 July.

“Circumstances forced us to cancel the two concerts at Stade de France,” says producer Thierry Suc. “All the teams are looking for the best opportunities to try and find new dates and propose solutions, even if each new day remains an unknown.”

We Love Green and Yard’s Yardland festival at the Parc de Choisy in Paris also fell by the wayside. The 1-2 July event was to have showcased acts such as Metro Boomin, Tayc, Ayra Starr, Omah Lay and Kaaris.

The violence in Paris appeared to be subsiding yesterday following four days of unrest

“We have no choice but to follow and respect this decision,” says a statement by organisers. “We would like to thank everyone involved in this project, especially the teams on site.

“A big thank you to the 33,000 people who had taken their tickets for this first edition. We will get back to you very quickly for the terms of reimbursement. We’re packing up for this year, but we’ll be back. Once again take care of yourself, let’s protect each other.”

French chain store Fnac also cancelled the final night of its Fnac Live Paris festival, which was set to feature Aime Simone, Hervé and Selah Sue.

The violence in Paris appeared to be subsiding yesterday (2 July) following four days of unrest. The number of arrests fell from 700 on Saturday to 150 last night, with 45,000 officers deployed across France for the past three nights.

At the weekend, the family of Nahel M, the teenager killed by police, called for an end to the violence.

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