CORONAVIRUS: This event, the Braderie de Lille attracts hundreds of thousands of people every year to the city
The health crisis was right for the event. The traditional Braderie de Lille, scheduled for September 5th and 6th, has been cancelled, the prefecture and the town hall announced on Monday.
“With regard to” the ban on all gatherings beyond 5,000 people and “the uncertainties about the health situation at the start of the school year, we regret having to announce the cancellation of the Braderie 2020”, said the prefect Michel Lalande and the mayor PS Martine Aubry in a joint press release. A “sell-off of traders” will, however, take place the same weekend, it was said.
Already cancelled in 2016
In June, the town hall had indicated that it wanted “the Braderie to be able to be held normally next September, obviously only if health security allows”, specifying that the decision would be taken “in connection with the prefecture”. Security which, it seems, could not be guaranteed.
Previous editions had attracted up to 2.5 million visitors from all over France and abroad. In 2016, it had to be cancelled due to the terrorist threat after the July 14 attack in Nice. It was the first cancellation of the event in 70 years.
