Dax Fair 2025: “Helping festival-goers in difficulty”: how the Red Cross is making the festival safe

As the emergency response is reinforced due to the heatwave, the territorial president of the Red Cross, Thomas Yriarte, talks about the work of volunteers and the advice to be given to festival-goers.

Thomas Yriarte isn't sleeping much these days, like the 130 French Red Cross rescue volunteers from all over France who are working on the Dax Feria 2025.

"This year, 35% of the volunteers are from the Landes region, and the rest of the volunteers come from further afield. In addition, we receive around twenty of what we call 'one-day volunteers', who are not familiar with the Red Cross and who come to help us with catering, because we have to feed the 130 volunteers morning, noon, and night. This involves a fairly significant amount of logistics in terms of meal management."

The Red Cross's missions at the Feria are numerous, but they can be summed up as "helping festival-goers in difficulty." "We have two ambulances, and the emergency services (SAMU) carry out the interventions; they call us and tell us where to go. Some of the people we take care of are taking a short nap, while others need a little more supervision, or even medical attention."

They also patrol their own volunteers. "So they can stay hydrated, because we're also afraid of people feeling unwell, and we need them to ensure the safety of others." This Friday, August 15, Thomas Yriarte counted "around ten cases of alcohol-related illnesses and fatigue before 5 p.m. It's likely to happen after 9 p.m., when the alcohol has taken effect, and the heat too, and then during the bullfight."

The prevention message is sometimes difficult to get across: "We try to reduce risks: hydrate yourself, party intelligently, drink alcohol in moderation, and in a group of friends, there is always someone who will not drink alcohol to have the necessary perspective if anything happens."

How do you navigate the Dax festivities? "There isn't much incivility, and if there is, we have support from the police. At night, there are firefighter foot teams who are tasked with getting to the heart of the party. For our part, we try to get as close as possible, and we'll also end up on foot because otherwise the ambulance won't move, as we saw in Mont-de-Marsan."