The giant free party that began Friday on military land near Bourges continues without major incident, the prefecture of the Cher department said on Saturday. She warned of a significant risk given the presence of old unexploded munitions. A free party support group present on site estimates the number of participants at 40,000 on Saturday evening, while the authorities counted 20,000 at the start of the morning.
Published on: 05/02/2026 - 11:23 Modified on: 05/05/2026 - 1:25 p.m.
The crowd continued to grow on Saturday at the site of the giant free party on a military shooting range near Bourges, in the Centre-Val de Loire region, reaching up to 40,000 participants at the start of the evening, according to a collective supporting techno parties.
The police and deminers from the Directorate General of Armament (DGA), to which this military site belongs, intervened after the discovery of a shell near the departmental road which crosses the shooting range, "on the edge of the Teknival site", announced the Cher prefecture. No major incidents have been reported since the rally began early Friday morning.
The authorities counted 20,000 participants on Saturday morning, but others continued to arrive in preparation for the evening, the high point of this Teknival 2026.
Contacted by AFP, Tekno Anti Rep, a collective supporting free parties present on site, estimated the number of festival-goers "between 35,000 and 40,000".
According to this collective, the organizers deliberately chose a site close to Bourges, hometown of Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, to protest against the state's repressive policy towards free parties.
He also asserts that "the part of the land used (by the festival) is not that used for firing tests" by the DGA.
In Cornusse, a small village less than two kilometers away, noise pollution has remained reduced and this unexpected crowd mainly poses logistical problems, such as waste collection, explains the mayor, Edith Raquin. According to her, cohabitation is going well between the population and the partygoers.
“For once there is some entertainment, let’s take advantage of it!” confirms Paulette, a 64-year-old retiree who lives in the village and did not wish to give her last name.
“Big message against repression”
According to the Cher prefecture, the emergency services treated 12 lightly injured people on the site, including six transferred to the advanced medical post. Forty-five firefighters and 30 civil protection rescuers remain stationed near the Teknival throughout the event.
“We must be able to face the worst, and the worst for us would be the explosion of munitions from the Second World War,” some of which are still buried in the wooded areas bordering the free party, insists the prefect, Philippe Le Moing Surzur.
On their social networks, Teknival organizers are posting pictograms calling on partygoers not to make fires, not to dig and not to pick up objects.
In total, 600 gendarmes are deployed at 14 checkpoints on the outskirts of the area, where the first partygoers arrived early Friday morning.
Since Friday 5 p.m., "the police have already issued 32 tickets, mostly for possession of drugs, 26 traffic violations and 4 police custody cases," said the prefecture.
The police are not present on the site itself, according to participants interviewed by AFP, for whom "it is going very, very well".
“I had heard that there were going to be a lot of people but once there, it was still a shock to see so many people gathered in the same place,” said this young man of 22, speaking on condition of anonymity.
For her 19-year-old friend, this massive presence, with many partygoers from abroad, "it's a big message against repression."
With AFP
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