Criminalization of rave parties: "It is in everyone's interest to have parties within a legal framework"

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Unlike Bruno Retailleau, who has announced that he wants to make the organization of raves a criminal offense, lawyer Marianne Rostan, a specialist in these cases, advocates for legally regulated parties, the only way to ensure the safety of partygoers and good relations with locals.

During a rave party organized in the heart of the scorched earth of Fontjoncouse, in the Aude department, on August 30, 2025. (Idriss Bigou-Gilles/AFP)

This weekend, the setting up of a rave party in Fontjoncouse, in the Corbières massif , in a part of the Aude region ravaged by a large fire in early August, crystallized tensions between the affected local residents and the partygoers. On Tuesday, September 2, the last partygoers – a few hundred out of 2,500 in total at the peak of the weekend – were asked to pack up under police surveillance, after being targeted by farmers, who attacked participants and smashed their cars.

Bruno Retailleau took the opportunity to propose that organizing rave parties be made a crime, so that organizers no longer risk only fines, but also prison. The Interior Minister stated on TF1 on Monday that he wanted to draw inspiration from the very restrictive legislation put in place on the other side of the Alps by