After the 2022 stings and the 2023 riots, following the death of Nahel, the context of 2024 appears, for the moment, more favorable to the arrival of 120,000 festival-goers in Marmande, for the 27theGarorock edition, à…
After the injections of 2022 and the riots of 2023, following the death of Nahel, the context of 2024 proves, for the moment, more favorable to the arrival of 120,000 festival-goers in Marmande, for the 27e edition of Garorock, starting this Thursday, June 27. A tenfold increase in the local population, which is nevertheless – inevitably – accompanied by risky behavior.
The terrorist risk is taken into account and the security system, placed under the authority of the Lot-et-Garonne gendarmerie group, is dense. “200 gendarmes are mobilized for these four days and we benefit from the reinforcement of 60 reservists from the region,” says Simon Wolff, commander of the Marmande gendarmerie company. Two helicopters from Bordeaux and Toulouse are deployed to monitor the site, as are drones. The Garonne will also be under surveillance.
Legislative and threatening skies
Priority will be given to attacks on the person, drugs and attacks on property, both on public roads and inside the site. And if the police will keep a close eye on the elections, which for the first time, will take place at the same time as the last day of the famous Marmandais festival, they do not fear any disturbances to public order. There will also be more checkpoints this year, to prevent any addictive driving.
As for the municipality, we are mainly scanning the sky, because the weather forecasts, which change over the hours, suggest a risk of thunderstorm alert for Saturday. In Marmande, in the event of evacuation, the accommodation capacity is 7,400 people, compared to 8,100 last year, due to the requisition of rooms for the elections. But this drop is offset by the availability of the Beaupuy hall. Ten municipalities, within a radius of around ten kilometers, have also responded favorably to accommodate up to 2030 people.
