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Yellow Vests won’t stop Champs Elysees New Year's light show, vows Paris mayor

The laser show will start Dec 31 at 11:40 pm, focusing on the issue of brotherhood, which is one of the three components of France’s national motto

© AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu

PARIS, December 27. /TASS/. The Paris Mayor’s Office has confirmed plans to usher in the New Year with a light show on Avenue des Champs Elysees despite appeals on social media to stage more Yellow Vest protests on December 31, says a report posted on the website of the Paris city administration.

"For the fifth time, Paris will celebrate the New Year by organizing jointly with [hypermarket chain] Monoprix a pyrotechnic and a light show projected on to the Arch de Triomphe," the statement said.

Read also

‘Yellow Vests’ protests in France become less violent on fifth day

Prior to the event, visitors will be treated to a show themed around the anniversaries of two major agreements. The first, the 230th anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, passed in the wake of the French Revolution of 1789, and the second commemoration is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights passed by the UN General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948.

The laser show will start at 11:40 pm, focusing on the issue of brotherhood, which is one of the three components of France’s national motto. Within 20 minutes, spectators will be watching images featuring the openness of France to the world, care for wildlife and nature, commitment to sports and solidarity as well as New Year’s Eve images. After that, fireworks will usher in the New Year in at midnight.

Meanwhile, the Yellow Vests are posting appeals for new rallies in different groups on Facebook. More than 9,000 users have confirmed their participation and another 70,000 have said they are interested in several groups opened on Facebook. The group of Eric Drouet, one of the masterminds behind the Yellow Vests, mentions Saturday, December 29, while others suggest a gathering on Avenue des Champs Elysees overnight to January 1.

Besides, police forensic examiners are planning to go on strike on New Year’s Eve, but it is not yet clear whether protests will take place.

In mid-November, France was gripped by street riots over skyrocketing fuel prices, growing taxes and soaring living costs. The demonstrations spiralled into clashes with the police. Despite certain concessions made by the government, like cut taxes and wage hikes, the Yellow Vests are pledging to carry on these protests.

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