Bastille Day in France has long been synonymous with grand fireworks displays over towns and villages, as dancing crowds celebrate their nation’s revolutionary birth.
But firework shows have been canceled in parts of the country this year, for fear of a resurgence of the unrest that has just swept France and for the risk of fire in the face of the extreme heat that is a new fixture of French summers.
“It’s an unusual convergence of social and environmental issues,” Hervé Florczak, the mayor of Jouy-le-Moutier, a small town west of Paris, said, noting that France had yet to solve either problem.
“It’s sad that it should fall on Bastille Day.”Mr. Florczak explained that he had first looked for a site away from a wooded area to organize a fireworks display while avoiding drought-related fire hazards.
Then, his city was struck by the riots after a police officer killed a teenager in a Paris suburb in late June.
Persons:
“, ” Hervé Florczak, ” Mr, Florczak
Locations:
France, Jouy, Paris