Morbihan: a festival in court for serving alcohol and playing concerts at night

The summary judge made Friday May 24, 2024 a “non-place to adjudicate” in the conflict between the municipality of Saint-Nolff (Morbihan) to the organizers of the Re-Animator festival since the town hall finally gave its agreement, at the last minute, to the opening of a “temporary drinking establishment” and to the holding of concerts beyond 10 p.m., thus making it possible the holding in “good conditions” of the festival which opened this Friday, May 24, 2024 at 4 p.m.

The little brother of the Motocultor will be able to take place in good conditions May 24, 25 and 26, 2024.

The festival takes legal action

While festival-goers have already started to arrive for the opening of the metal and rock festivalthe organizers of the event, little brother of Motocultor which is now held in Carhaix (Finistère) following a “dispute”, already, with the mayor of Saint-Nolff, will have held their breath until the end.

They were in fact forced to urgently take legal action to allow the opening of a “temporary drinking establishment” and the holding of concerts beyond 10 p.m.

The appeal was in fact lodged on Thursday May 23, 2024, a few hours before the launch of the first edition of the festival. Yann Le Baraillec and the Motocultor Fest Prod teams therefore feared for the financial balance of the organizing association if they did not obtain these “exceptional exemptions”.

“Out of time” according to the community

The municipal services of Saint-Nolff had in fact received the request concerning the liquor store THE May 22 last. But “time to analyze” was not enough, for Mayor Nadine Le Goff-Carnec.

She considered that the association was ” out of time “ since it imposed a minimum period of ” fifteen days ” before the start of the festivities to be able to rule on this type of request.

A decision to “refuse” an exceptional exemption was therefore legally “born”.

A third of the revenue at stake

The association therefore found itself at an impasse since “neither the municipality nor the prefect wanted to respond concretely to allow the event to take place in good conditions”, its lawyer argued this Friday at 2:30 p.m.

He had lodged his appeal in the context of a interim relief, an extremely urgent procedure which aims to sanction “serious and manifestly illegal attacks” on “fundamental freedoms” enshrined in the Constitution.

“Until receipt of the documents” from the mayor of Saint-Nolff, Thursday May 23, 2024, the organizers were indeed thinking having to give up “a third of the revenue” of the festival, due to not being able to sell drinks.

They would also have been forced to cut the music at 10 p.m.due to a prefectural decree relating to “the fight against neighborhood noise”.

Last minute authorizations

But finally, the town hall issued the authorizations in extremisand the festival will be held “without the sword of Damocles” hanging over our heads.

During the hearing, the judge immediately announced that she would issue a “no need to adjudicate”.

In any case, “I would have had no difficulty in finding the illegality of the decision since there is no legal deadline provided” in this matter for filing such requests, the magistrate also knew, in the presence of the mayor of Saint-Nolff.

The municipality’s lawyer, Me Lucie Clairay, for her part recalled that the municipality had “everything was done so that the festival could be held”.

But this is notas “the reading we have of the file”, had retorted Me Guillaume Emelien, the festival’s lawyer, who was however delighted that “the dialogue is re-established”.

“Our request was not in vain,” insisted the Rennes lawyer.

How much will this cost?

The only remaining issue in this case now relates to the “procedural costs” incurred. The town hall – which initially demanded that the association be ordered to pay it 2,000 euros – agreed to “reduce its request for 1,000 euros » in relation to “all the diligence carried out in a short time in this matter”.

The association, which for its part filed a request for 2,000 euros, maintains that despite the “dismissal of the case” announced by the judge, this “amicable agreement” was indeed found “because an appeal was been introduced”.

This Friday evening, the order had still not been made public even though the festival had started well.

CB (PressPepper)

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