Multiple stabbings, sexual assaults, and robberies turned France’s annual Fete de la Musique street festival into scenes of chaos and violence over the weekend, leading to the arrest of 243 people nationwide, according to a report by The Daily Mail.
More than two million people attended the free, open-air music festival in Paris, which attracts thousands of British and Irish tourists each year. However, The Daily Mail details that the event descended into widespread disorder, with witnesses describing the streets as resembling an apocalypse.
In Paris, the initial trouble broke out after 11:00 PM in the Chatelet area near Notre Dame Cathedral, where overcrowding allowed groups of young men to start fights and punch bystanders. Police later used tear gas to manage crowds in the St Germain de Pres district. A total of 148 arrests were made in the capital alone, where gangs smashed car windows, vandalised vehicles, and attempted to break into shops.
A major concern during the event was the targeting of women. Police received more than ten reports of women being injected with syringes containing unknown substances, a repeating trend from the previous year’s festival. A young woman was raped in a private residence in Paris after being injected, while a 15-year-old girl reported being raped in the suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne. In another suburb, Gagny, a 48-year-old man was arrested for the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl.
Violence spread to other parts of France as well. The Daily Mail reported that in the south-west, a 40-year-old man was stabbed in Toulouse and a 40-year-old woman was stabbed in nearby Colomiers. Both remain in a stable condition in hospital while detectives review CCTV footage to identify the attackers.
The violence occurred despite the deployment of nearly 5,000 police officers and gendarmes, who had been instructed to avoid escalating tension and only intervene when absolutely necessary. It also follows recent riots in the city after Paris St Germain won the European Champions League Final, an event that resulted in two drownings.
Reactions to the incidents have surfaced on social media, with many users sharing comparison videos showing how the festival looked in the 1990s versus now.
🇫🇷🤪 MUSIC FESTIVAL 2026 vs 1990
What happened 😮? pic.twitter.com/cF3XT6oYTz
— Camille Moscow 🇷🇺 🌿 ☦️ (@camille_moscow) June 22, 2026
While Paris officials had created cordoned-off safe spaces for women and disabled visitors following high levels of sexual violence in 2025, the protective measures did not stop the widespread disorder.
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