Essential for some, synonymous with economic waste and ecological disaster for others. Everyone has an opinion on the decorations put up during the end-of-year celebrations. We asked Cayenne and Roura how they organized themselves this year to bring a festive touch to the streets.
« Too kitsch, not enough, always placed in the same place… » Just throwing out the topic of decorations around town can open the floodgates to endless conversation. Everyone has an opinion. One thing everyone agrees on : impossible to do without it during the holidays.
It's not Roura who will say the opposite. Entangled in budgetary difficulties, the town has played the resourcefulness card to still bring a little color to the town, once night falls.
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« Even though things are improving, we are still experiencing financial difficulties and are still undergoing a recovery plan, recalls Patrick Boulange, general director of services. But we still chose to illuminate a few places in the town. I approached the town of Matoury who lent us garlands free of charge. » Recovered by Roura technical services teams at the beginning of last week, they were installed on several buildings : the town hall, the socio-cult center and the church.
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In Cayenne, things are different. The city has a specific market for its holiday decorations. This year, the Living Environment Department met with the mayor in July to find out her ideas and target the places to be illuminated. « We chose to focus on the city center, while waiting for the new market which will allow us to go further to the outskirts »indicates the municipality. A visit in September with the service provider in charge of the decoration made it possible to draw up a precise plan with the locations and the lighting fixtures to be installed.
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Cayenne still ordered new supplies this year : new patterns for the poles, visible in particular on Mandela Boulevard, as well as 3D elements. These are installed on the Place des Palmistes as well as at Anse Chaton.
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In addition to the usual places, town hall or Place des Palmistes, the city has chosen to highlight two sites : that of the Broken Chains, near the sea at the end of Boulevard Mandela and Fort Cépérou. This one, already popular with selfie enthusiasts for its “Cayenne mo kontan to” sign, is now equipped with an illuminated sign “ I love my city », visible from afar.
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Purchase and installation included, these new elements cost 100 000 euros in the capital. For economic reasons, the city claims to have, as with its previous decoration, chosen LED lamps that consume less energy. « We also opted for elements made from recycled plastic » still indicates the municipality.
Apart from the garlands placed on the trees, all those installed in the city belong to Cayenne and will be reused in the coming years, in the city center or in the neighborhoods. There, specific projects concerning decoration should be developed with the inhabitants.
As always in our latitudes, the light decorations should remain in place until the end of the carnival at the beginning of March 2025, at least for those which are less linked to Christmas. There is still time to go see Santa Claus installed in Palmistes.
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