It is one of the largest flea markets in Europe with nearly 80 kilometers of stalls and some 2.5 million visitors of all nationalities expected: the Lille braderie opened on Saturday September 2, at 8 hours, in the city center. The event will be held until Sunday 6 p.m.
Whether they are local residents, junk dealers, traders, some 8,000 exhibitors set up to sell over the weekend, free of charge for individuals.
The sale of any new product or object (excluding sedentary businesses) has also been “strictly prohibited” since 2017 at the Lille sale, as the town hall reminded us during a press conference in July.
Nearly 3,000 members of the police mobilized
While the Braderie de Lille is also a festive and gourmet meeting place where visitors share a meal consisting of mussels and fries in the middle of the stalls, Lille has for several years been encouraging restaurateurs to make piles of mussel shells around the perimeter of the market. the flea market and report them for recycling.
These shells have been collected by the city, in partnership with a local company specializing in the creation of objects from recycled materials, since 2018. Cleaned then crushed, they are notably transformed into slabs of tiling.
For this 2023 edition, the event will also be “extremely secure”, as stated by the mayor of the city, Martine Aubry. Also, 611 concrete blocks and 1,500 barriers are deployed to secure the access doors and traffic is prohibited to vehicles inside the perimeter of the clearance sale.
In addition, “nearly 3,000 state agents”, police, gendarmes, customs officers, soldiers, are also mobilized “to ensure the security of the event”, said the North prefecture in a press release.
political meeting
On the occasion of this popular and festive event, several political figures are expected in Lille this weekend, like the national secretary of Europe-Ecologie-Les Verts Marine Tondelier, elected opposition mayor of ‘Hénin-Beaumont (Pas-de-Calais). She will participate in a press conference to be held at 12:30 p.m. at the party stand, about the senatorial and European elections.
The deputy of the North Fabien Roussel will also be present, as usual. As for the coordinator of La France insoumise, Manuel Bompard, and the leader of the “insubordinate” deputies, Mathilde Panot, they too have made an appointment in Lille and will deliver a speech at 4 p.m.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, former mayor of Tourcoing and re-elected deputy for the North in June 2022, must also come and stroll among the stalls, as well as several figures from the presidential party, Renaissance.
The mayor of Lille since 2001, Martine Aubry (Socialist Party), will begin her traditional round of the sale at 2:30 p.m., departing from the town hall.
