For several days now, calls for a broad convergence of protest movements have been circulating on social media. To mark the moment, the date of October 17, 2026, which coincides with the start of the All Saints’ Day holidays, had been chosen a few weeks earlier by a small group claiming to be from the “Yellow Vests” and aiming to protest against the cost of living.
Since then, discontent among high school and university students has gained traction. This new day of protests could therefore draw particularly large crowds. All the more so because Sophie Binet announced the CGT’s support for the October 17 mobilization. "The upsurge on October 17 shows the scale of the anger, and wherever the conditions are right, the CGT will be there," said the CGT general secretary on October 12 on LCI.
This Saturday, the Yellow Vests, high school students, university students, teachers, but also unions are set to take to the streets in the capital. They will rally around concerns over purchasing power, rising prices—especially fuel—and overall living conditions.
While several groups had urged people to gather at Bastille on Saturday from 2 p.m., the Police Prefecture ultimately issued an order banning any assembly on this famous Paris square. In the same order, published Friday evening, authorities instead set out an itinerary starting from the Place de la République, with an arrival planned at the Place de Clichy. The procession will notably take the Boulevard Magenta, the Barbès-Rochechouart intersection, and the Boulevard de Clichy.
It should be recalled that the idea of several Parisian processions had been floated this week. Many of them are even listed on the site 17octobregiletjaune.net. But the Paris Police Prefecture had already issued a first order to partially ban the marching demonstration announced by the mobilization committee of the Interfac IDF General Assembly. This procession was initially supposed to depart from Place de la République and proceed to Place de la Concorde, via the Grands Boulevards. After the ban, authorities proposed an alternate route from Place de la République to Place de la Nation, passing through Boulevard Voltaire. This route, proposed by the Paris Police Prefecture, was rejected by the organizers.
Another proposed alternate route by authorities for the announced protest of the Yellow Vests, « to which several unions joined », as well as high school and university students. They had originally planned to join the demonstration at Place de la Bastille from Place de l'Opéra. Once again, the police prefecture issued an order banning this route.
This Friday morning, a meeting was held between the Préfecture de police de Paris and representatives of Interfac Île-de-France, the Yellow Vests, and the CGT. As Le Parisien noted, “no agreement” had been reached around a specific route. However, all groups had called for a joint gathering in Bastille, this Saturday from 2 p.m. “The start of the march, we’re all in agreement on. It’s for what comes after and the end that there are divergences,” Benjamin Ball, founder of the site 17octobregiletjaune.net, told Le Parisien.
Ultimately, the police prefecture also decided to ban this gathering at Bastille and laid out a route from the Place de la République to the Place de Clichy. According to Le Parisien, Interfac plans to follow this route and is therefore calling for a rally on the Place de la République this Saturday from 2 p.m.
Protests in Paris on October 17: the list of 25 metro stations closed this Saturday
This Saturday, as the All Saints’ Day holidays begin, a new, large protest is planned in Paris. Because of these demonstrations and at the request of the Police Prefecture, many metro stations will be closed on 17 October 2026 from 8 a.m. Here is the list of affected stations. [Read more]
Protests in Paris on October 17: the list of 25 metro stations closed this Saturday
