Last night, the bass sounds of a rave party woke up the inhabitants of Bierset, near Liège. The party took place in an abandoned hangar close to Liège airport, which belongs to SOWAER, the Walloon airport company. Despite police intervention in the past, around 2000 people were in attendance at the rave, which had been going on since midnight. It was reported that many French people from the North of the Flemings and the Hainauts were present at the party. Participants managed the party themselves, and set up prevention stands to ensure everyone had a good evening. While some were not bothered by the noise or disturbances, a young woman who lived near the abandoned hangar expressed frustration that the partygoers left their waste there and that it was hard to sleep. The local police were reportedly understaffed and unable to intervene properly.
A restless night
It was not the bells that woke up the inhabitants of Bierset (in the municipalities of Grace-Hollogne and Awans), near Liège, last night; but the bass sounds emitted by a rave party.
This type of event is not a first since the police have already intervened several times in recent years for parties at this place. Rallies also reportedly took place last weekend.
It is an abandoned hangar, near Liège airport, a former army building, which now belongs to SOWAER, the Walloon airport company. There are few houses very close but the sound seems to reach the neighboring districts.
About 2000 people participate in this rave, which has been going on since last night. The equipment was installed around midnight and the revelers arrived at 3 am “It’s scheduled until Monday eveningconfirms a participant from Tournai, but maybe the police will stop first.“Many French people from the North of the Flemings and the Hainauts are present on the Liège site.
“It was greatsays one participant, and there, we’re going to sleep a little in the car“. The party is self-managed by the participants, with prevention stands: “everything is set up so that everyone has a good evening.“
Annoyed residents
About the nuisances, the participants of the rave understand that this can annoy the local residents but here, we are in a zone, there are not really close residents” justifies another speaker. This is not really the opinion of a young woman, who lives in the neighborhood: “it makes a lot of noise, we have a little trouble sleeping and these people leave their waste there. We notified the police, they said they were taking charge of the situation, but nothing changed. They say they are understaffed.“
According to several sources, the local police, warned, would not actually have the human resources necessary to intervene. “We saw them at the beginning, there were a lot of them, but they left“, says a participant.
As the rave party near Liège airport continues into its second day, the annoyance of local residents becomes increasingly clear. While participants of the party insist that they have taken precautions to prevent disturbances, such as setting up prevention stands, some nearby residents are finding it difficult to get any sleep due to the noise. Despite the police being warned, it appears that their resources are stretched too thin to properly intervene. As the situation develops, it remains to be seen whether the party will be allowed to continue until its scheduled end on Monday evening, or if steps will be taken to halt it sooner.
