• A petition has been launched by defenders of the Bois de Vincennes. Among other demands, it calls for the relocation of the We Love Green festival, which is scheduled to take place there from June 2 to 4, 2023.
  • According to the signatories, the festival would cause serious nuisance for wildlife, with too high decibels for three days, and for the flora because of the trampling of more than 100,000 festival-goers and all the machines related to the organization.
  • The festival defends itself from these accusations by highlighting its mission of sustainable development.


We Love Green washing? Created nearly two weeks ago, a petition calling for the relocation of the music festival has just exceeded 30,000 signatures.

Launched by a group of residents called "Les défenseurs du bois de Vincennes", behind which we find the National Group for the Monitoring of France Trees (GNSA) and France Nature Environment (FNE), the petition opposes the "Disneylandization" and the management of wood by the City of Paris. They say they are worried about the multiplication of events in the largest green space in Paris. In addition to the municipality, the We Love Green festival is one of the targets of the signatories.

'Torture for animals'

"It is not possible to gather every year and for three days about 110,000 people on these places," says Marie-Noëlle Bernard, at the initiative of the petition. In question, decibels that fly away, "real torture for animals", and the trampling of the flora for three days, "an ecological disaster". A height for the festival which prides itself on being eco-responsible and promoting sustainable development.

"We hear music for miles, can you imagine what effect this can have on squirrels and birds that live nearby, in the middle of the nesting season?" asks the one who is also responsible for the GNSA of the Bois de Vincennes.

It is also the festival that welcomes every year big names of the French and international music scene (Phoenix, Clara Luciani or PNL in 2022) that provoked the petition. Already exasperated by the clear-cutting carried out in the wood, the defenders of the Bois de Vincennes exploded at the announcement of the maintenance of We Love Green on the plain of the stars in 2023: "The City of Paris had promised us to move it. Maybe they said it in the air, or thinking about 2050, but when we learned of its maintenance, it was too much. They distort the Bois de Vincennes. »

The festival denies it

Questioned on this subject by our colleagues from BFM TV, the director of the festival, Marie Sabot, assures "limit the environmental impact of the event": "We are on a project that is supervised by the League for the Protection of Birds. We have a sound study that listens, measures and records sound levels. Even better, she argues that the organization has created "wet domes in the ditches of the wood" to allow ecosystems to recreate themselves.

An argument that does not convince the GNSA activist: "It is not by digging four trenches that they will compensate for the excesses they commit." Nor by the municipality's response to his request: "The City of Paris intends to maintain the social role of this wood. Sporting and cultural events are regularly held on this site, which was previously a military training ground. »

Call for NGOs and festival-goers

Also, to force fate, Marie-Noëlle Bernard appeals to festival-goers and organizations that sponsor We Love Green: "They are not aware of the harm it does. It starts from a good feeling, they think they are doing a good deed by having a good time. Everyone loves to listen to music outdoors. Also, the defenders of the Bois de Vincennes ask NGOs such as Greenpeace or Oxfam, partners of the festival to support his request: "They can come and hold their stands if they want, but with respect for nature and without all the noise next door. In silence. »





Contacted by 20 Minutes, the festival's management, the League for the Protection of Birds, Greenpeace and Oxfam have not yet wished to respond to our requests.

  • Paris
  • Ile
  • Vincennes
  • Festival
  • Environment
  • Ecology
  • Paris City Hall