The French Fairgrounds Federation announced that it wanted to block the area around the Jean Dauger stadium on Saturday, where Aviron Bayonnais planned to face Racing 92 (2:30 p.m.). She wants to express her disagreement about the dates of the Bayonne Festivals.
For several weeks, the city of Bayonne and the Federation of Fairgrounds of France (FFF) have been engaged in a standoff over the 2025 edition of the Bayonne festivals. The reason? At the end of September, the town hall of Bayonne announced that the next festivals will take place from July 16 to 20, at the same time as those of Mont-de-Marsan, which is not to the taste of the FFF which sees, there, a considerable shortfall, because these two festivals are among the most popular of the summer, in the south west of France.
Therefore, a first blockade of the city took place on October 8. A second action is planned this Saturday, around the Jean Dauger stadium, where Aviron bayonnais welcomes Racing 92 (14h30). “We are not here to annoy the people of Bayonwe were told last night by the FFF. We are here to right an injustice. On Saturday, it is the people who come to the match who will suffer the inconvenience, the Federation apologizes, but this action is taken against the town hall of Bayonne.”
“Yesterday’s announcement does not satisfy us,” explains Thomas Bruch
Yesterday evening and after an afternoon spent together, the mayor of Bayonne (Jean-René Etchegaray) and that of Mont-de-Marsan (Charles Dayot) ended up reaching an agreement. The 2025 edition of the Bayonne festivals will be held from July 9 to 13. Those of Mont-de-Marsan will take place from the 16th to the 20th. End of the story, then? Obviously, no.
As we write these lines, the fairgrounds are maintaining their actions. “Yesterday’s announcement does not satisfy us. We will issue a press release if the event is cancelled, but that is not the way to go.” announced to us, Thursday noon, Thomas Bruch, treasurer and founding member of the Federation of Fairgrounds of France. Wednesday evening, the latter explained to us: “For us, the Bayonne festivals must take place on the last weekend of July. If Bayonne changes its dates, all the festivals will be postponed, it’s an endless chain. We can’t let this happen.”
Towards a road blockage?
Player of Saint-Paul-lès-Dax for 16 seasons, he explains: “The goal is that on Saturday, the demonstration starts at 10 a.m. then, from noon, we will stay at Jean Dauger and it will be very blocked. I know that the president of Aviron is worried, but the mayor of Bayonne takes unilateral decisions without consulting anyone. […] We have filed a notice. We will do our best to respect it, but we don’t know how it will end. We are lucky that a rugby match is shown exclusively at 2:30 p.m. on Canal +. It might be interesting, you know…”
As for Jean Dauger, the Ciel et Blanc club is waiting to have more information to communicate on this subject. As for city hall? Among our colleagues from France Bleu Pays Basque, this morning, the mayor of Bayonne, Jean-René Etchegaray, declared: “I respect the right to strike and assemble. We must respect the decision we made with my colleagues, namely, that the holidays will take place before July 20 as long as we are in business.”
