Bastille Day Heatwaves And Firework Bans—What To Expect If Traveling

It’s the big festival of the year—France’s Bastille Day on 14th July, but severely hot weather is expected and due to recent social unrest the government has taken some precautions to ease tensions, such as the ban of fireworks. Here’s what to know if you’re traveling over the upcoming Fête Nationale across France.

Why Did The Recent French Riots Happen?

There were six days of unrest across the country after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, when he was stopped by police in his car on 27 June. Riots erupted in several major cities and lasted several nights with people protesting against perceived police brutality and racism—Merzouk was of North African descent.

The Times laid out the scale of the damage—over six nights, 12,031 cars and 23,878 rubbish bins were set alight with an additional 2,508 buildings and shops set on fire or looted—this included police stations, school and town halls. In total, 3,505 people were arrested and 721 police officers injured.

Are The Riots Currently Ongoing And Is It Safe To Travel?

The situation is currently calm heading into Bastille Day weekend, which is a public holiday starting this Friday. Travelers should know, however, that things are still politically volatile—The Guardian reported that residents in Paris’ banlieues (suburbs) are still not going outside their homes after 6pm to stay safe as they feel tension might resurface this weekend. While tourists are unlikely to be congregated in these areas, past rioting has spilt over into central Paris and other city centers.

The U.K. government has told travelers in France that they should continue to check in with media outlets during their travels and pay attention to the advice of authorities and tour operators. Should any situation erupt, there may be delays and disruption to travel and curfews are possible should the situation get bad. However, as travel is not ill-advised, companies are unlikely to give refunds if you decide not to travel or to delay.

The Government Has Banned The Sale Of Fireworks

The French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, banned the sale of fireworks until after 15 July, when the festivities will have ended. The Telegraph announced her declaration, that in order to prevent serious disturbances it would be illegal to sell, carry, transport and use pyrotechnics and fireworks throughout France.

The ban does not hold for professionals, so city-run events will still be able to go ahead as planned, including the most well-known, the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, that start at 11pm.

After the announcement, police seized 1.5 tonnes of mortar fireworks across the Paris area in a period of 48 hours and almost twice that amount in Rennes, in the northwest. Many of these types of fireworks have been used as part of street protests in the past. Gregory Joron, the secretary general of the Unit-SGP Police FO police union said that even without the country’s current politically charged atmosphere, July 14 and 31 December are already two of France’s most complicated days to manage law and order.

In Paris, in honour of the military spirit of the day, there is always a military parade on the Champs-Elysées, with Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in attendance this year with President Macron. Bastille Day commemorates the fall of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789. The city’s prison was taken by Parisian residents in an armed uprising, although there were only 7 people inside when the gates were breached. France’s Fête Nationale is more about what the uprising symbolizes—the toppling of a system where the lowest socioeconomic groups were struggling under rising bread prices, food shortages and extreme social inequality.

Be Prepared For Very Hot Weather

Travelers should also prepare for the impending hot weather—there are weather alerts across 10 regions, with particular alerts in the south and east of the country, with highs of 40°C expected. The national weather service is using drones to map the weather, particularly across Paris.

With the weather striding into a heatwave this weekend, it’s another reason why authorities are considering cancelling firework shows—because of the risk of fire, as is the case in Strasbourg and the surrounding areas.