The mayor of Landerneau, a small town in France, is speaking out amid backlash over a recently held festival. Thousands of French citizens attended a Smurf convention on Saturday, despite warnings against large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. You read that sentence completely right.
In the north western France province, a massive amount of people dressed up as Smurfs (Schtroumpfs in French) - the little blue creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest, made famous from a Belgian comic series. Replete with detailed blue makeup and costuming, the March 7 gathering even set a world record with over 3,500 attendees.
But how, exactly, did this happen amidst countries and states all over the world - including Italy, France, China - declaring states of emergencies and shutting down? Yesterday, Mayor Patrick Leclerc told French media that he'll make no apologies for his people. According to France 24, the celebration that took place last weekend happened one day before France placed a nationwide ban on large gatherings of over 1,000 people.
Leclerc defended his citizens, saying, "We must not stop living. It was the chance to say that we are alive." According to Leclerc, the people of Landerneau got all their costumes from all the shops in the area. "We figured that a bit of fun would do us all good at the moment," the mayor said of the thousands of (literally) blue people wearing special Smurf hats and costumes.
VIDEO: Thousands gathered in western France on Saturday to break the world record for the largest ever gathering of Smurfs. Around 3,500 people set aside fears of the coronavirus to dress up as the characters, which come from a Belgian comic franchise pic.twitter.com/aNEEkDIvAt
- AFP news agency (@AFP) March 9, 2020
Currently, there are many mandates that are in place for COVID1-19, or novel coronavirus, in France - but these regulations were only put in place the day after the gathering, when people weren't sure how seriously to take the pandemic, or what all of the risks were. Since March 8, France has shut down schools, banned large gatherings of people, and has ruled out "all but strictly necessary travel," with travel bans between Europe and the United States also now being enforced.
In the last week, the situation has grown much more dire around the world. Many have been told to stay home from work, with stores, events, and schools around the world shutting down, Broadway in New York City going dark despite schools staying open, and public health officials like Andy Slavitt, the former Medicare, Medicaid and ACA Head for President Obama warn of the gravity of the pandemic.
Nearly 3,000 people have been confirmed to have coronavirus in France now, and the situation only grows more serious by the day there and everywhere, so all kinds of precaution is necessary. It can't be stressed enough that it's something to take seriously. Still, whatever happens, hopefully all the Smurfs and Smurfettes who participated feel happy about one last hurrah, and the Leclerc feels proud that he'll go down in history as Papa Smurf, leader of the blue people now.
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