Orchestra plays at Place de la République as Paris cost-of-living protests enter fourth weekend

On Saturday, November 7, France's cost-of-living protests entered a fourth weekend. In Paris, before the march set off from Place de la République at 2 p.m., members of the orchestra Manif'ique were already performing outdoors in the square, playing for the crowds gathering there. A Reuters photograph from the scene shows the musicians playing in the open air, with demonstrators waving flags and holding placards behind them.

Music becomes part of the protest

The day's protests were called by trade unions, the Yellow Vests movement and student organisations, demanding higher wages and more funding for schools and public services. The Interior Ministry said about 146,000 people took to the streets nationwide, including 46,000 in Paris; organisers put the nationwide figure at 250,000. The authorised march ran from Place de la République along Boulevard Voltaire to Place de la Nation, with large numbers of police deployed along the route and several Métro stations closed at times.

The orchestra's performance in the square added a musical element to a march driven by economic demands. Footage from the scene shows demonstrators singing along, clapping and cheering to the music, with some placards carrying humorous slogans.

A month earlier, another orchestra in the same square was cut short by tear gas

Outdoor performances in Place de la République are not new. On October 17, the Orchestre du Nouveau Monde — co-founded in 2022 by conductor Étienne Jarrier — was performing in the same square when riot police fired tear gas into the area and the orchestra was forced to stop. The Guardian reported that tear-gas canisters landed between double basses and music stands and started fires that the musicians had to stamp out. The ensemble, made up of hundreds of young professional and amateur musicians, aims to combine classical music with social and climate justice activism.

No similar incident was reported during the November 7 performance, which went ahead to its conclusion — a relatively peaceful note in a fourth week of protests.