After a one-year pause due to the Paris Olympics, the large annual evangelical gathering of the association Vie et Lumière is set to return to the former airbase in Grostenquin, Moselle, at the end of August 2025.
The 2024 edition had been called off as France’s security forces were already stretched by the demands of Olympic planning. But this summer, the French government has confirmed it will once again make the site available for the event, which typically draws tens of thousands of travellers from across Europe.
Authorities say a security and logistics plan has been put in place to ensure public order and minimise disruption for local residents.
But in a rare show of unity, local politicians have spoken out strongly against the decision. Back in April, the Saint-Avold Synergie agglomeration council unanimously passed a motion opposing the event. Council president Salvatore Coscarella warned that if the state pushes ahead without local backing, residents and officials will express their discontent.
The concerns are shared more widely. François Grosdidier, president of the Moselle mayors’ federation, has written to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, citing risks to public safety and sanitation, as well as the event’s environmental impact. The site borders a protected Natura 2000 zone, and past editions have left behind both waste and damage, he said.
Although former prime minister Edouard Philippe had pledged in 2017 that the gathering would no longer take place in Grostenquin, it was held again in 2023, and now again in 2025, despite mounting opposition.
