Paris Considers Canceling New Year's Party Over Security Concerns
New Year's Eve in Paris is an exciting, romantic event marked by an extremely popular light show on the Champs-Elysées avenue, but this year officials are considering canceling the party due to security concerns after the terrorist attacks of November 13.
According to The Local, last year over 600,000 people attended the New Year's Eve party and light show on the Champs-Elysées, but the state of emergency in place after last month's terrorist attacks has banned all large gatherings, and that could include the New Year's Eve party.
"From a symbolic point of view, it would leave us with heavy hearts if we had to cancel it," said Bruno Julliard, deputy mayor of Paris. "But if the prefecture of police asks us to cancel it, then we will."
Last year's party required 1,700 police officers on the Champs-Elysées alone, and 9,000 dispatched throughout the city. If the party goes forward this year, those numbers would likely be much larger.
Nobody really seems to want to cancel the New Year's Eve party, but according to Julliard, meetings on the issue are still ongoing.