France canceled the Braderie De Lille street flea market one of its top annual events due to terrorist concerns.
The Lille flea market attacts 2.5 million visitors annually and dates back to the 12th century.
Le Monde
This comes after several Islamic terrorist attacks in the past year have killed hundreds in France.
The Local reported:
The Lille flea market, considered one of France top annual events, has become the latest to be cancelled amid fears it may be targeted by terrorists.
One of Europe’s biggest flea markets, in the northern French city of Lille, has been cancelled over security fears in the terror-hit country, mayor Martine Aubry said Friday.
The annual market attracted 2.5 million visitors over two days in 2015, and Aubry said there were “risks we cannot reduce. Therefore I think we must cancel the 2016 flea market.”
“We have really tried our best, but there are risks we cannot reduce,” Aubry told a news conference alongside Michel Lalande, the top government official in the region. She described it as “a painful decision”.
Lalande said the decision was necessary because of the “hyper-urban format (of the market) with its streets full of people.”
He added: “There comes a time, despite our passions and our convictions, when we have to say stop.”
The flea market, called the Braderie de Lille was due to be held on September the 3rd and 4th. Some 10,000 exhibitors, including 300 antique dealers display their goods during the two day sell off, which is why it’s considered the biggest flea market in Europe.
It is just the latest in a growing list of summer events in France that have been scrapped as authorities fear they cannot guarantee adequate security given the unprecedented terror threat.
La Braderie by François Watteau (1799-1800)
