Music festivals, fairs and sporting events… cancellations galore in the face of the heatwave?

The peak of the heatwave is expected on Sunday and Monday according to Météo France. This is why several cities in the West are already deciding to cancel their music festivals on Sunday.

A heat peak is expected on Sunday, June 21, the longest day of the year. But also music festival day. Concerts are organized almost everywhere in the streets, bars, village squares… For the moment, the event remains held in the vast majority of cities, but some organizers have still taken the lead.

This is the case in Saint-Savinien sur Charente, a town of 2,500 inhabitants in the north of Charente-Maritime. The music school which organizes these festivities has decided to cancel and postpone until September. With regret, but to be safe.

A choice also made by the town hall of Thouars, 150 km away, in Deux-Sèvres. The West of the country which will be particularly affected this weekend with nearly 40 degrees expected locally such as in Maine-et-Loire where the department has decided to cancel a concert linked to the music festival in the oldest church in Angers.

Same fate for a series of concerts which was to take place in the same town on a square where there are no trees, no shade… The organizers, in coordination with the town hall, decided to remove them. The city which does not rule out the cancellation of other events in the coming days.

The bike party canceled in Anjou

Still in Maine-et-Loire, the temperatures are pushing the organizers of the 28th edition of the Fête du Vélo en Anjou to cancel the event which was to be held on Sunday. A very popular event, since 25,000 cyclists were expected along the Loire. A decision taken for security reasons explains Rodolphe Ligonniere, general director of Anjou Tourisme, co-organizer of the event.

“There, for the temperatures in the sun, we would be around 45, 46 degrees. So we are really at temperatures which are dangerous for families on this type of route. This is the particularity of the cycling festival in Anjou, it is these departmental roads with little shade where we will be much warmer only on small paths or shaded roads. So it is preferable for us to cancel to preserve health and all the organization around. There are a lot of volunteers and associations… We try to be much more vigilant,” he assures.