The courts have lifted the ban on the Bastille–Nation route for the Paris demonstration on Saturday, October 31, 2026, Halloween. According to BFMTV, the administrative court has suspended the Paris police prefecture’s order banning the route requested by the inter-union coalition. The Yellow Vests coordination, which is preparing its third act, had for its part wanted to reach Concorde via République and Opéra. Which neighborhoods and journeys could be affected? Here is the information available as of October 30.
After the October 24 mobilization, the coordination group is maintaining its call for rallies and sit-ins in defense of the freedom to protest on its website. Its calendar also includes a day of strikes and blockades on November 5, a call to continue these actions on November 6, followed by Act IV on November 7. These announcements express the movement’s intentions but do not make it possible to predict the extent of the disruption.
The standoff over the Paris route has taken a new turn. According to BFMTV, which reported the decision on Friday, October 30, the administrative court has suspended the prefectural order banning the route between Bastille and Nation. The ban on the route requested by the inter-union coalition has therefore been suspended.
The decision comes after several days of disagreement. The prefecture had proposed a route between Porte de Bagnolet and Porte de Charenton, which the unions opposed. The inter-union coalition had mentioned the possibility of legal action as early as Thursday, October 29, Le Parisien reported.
However, the decision on the Bastille–Nation route does not amount to approval of the Bastille–Concorde route requested separately by the Yellow Vests. Nor does it mean that the two marches will ultimately follow the same route. The organizers’ instructions and any possible convergence between the two groups have yet to be clarified.
The Paris program has changed since the gathering was initially announced in front of the National Assembly. According to Le Parisien, the organizers filed a route on Tuesday, October 27, with a planned 2 p.m. departure from Place de la Bastille, followed by a march through the center of the capital to Concorde.
The graphic published by the coordination shows the following route:
This is the route requested by the coordinating committee; its approval is not established by the decision reported by BFMTV. The 2 p.m. start time announced by the Yellow Vests should not be attributed to the inter-union march either without separate confirmation.
For this Friday, October 30, the coordinating group is also calling for a pot-banging protest outside the National Assembly from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with a gathering at 7 p.m. across France. The call does not confirm the conditions for accessing the area.
For motorists, the suspension of the Bastille–Nation route ban does not provide details of the traffic measures. No updated list of closed streets, parking bans or restrictions on access to car parks could be verified for this update. The names of the start and finish squares are not enough to determine all the roads used.
Any potential restrictions will need to be specified by the Police Prefecture, including their hours, boundaries and exceptions. The neighborhoods mentioned in the calls should therefore not be presented as entirely closed to traffic.
The court ruling on the route does not announce the closure of any metro stations or bus diversions. The precise impact of the demonstration on public transport has yet to be confirmed by RATP. Restrictions imposed on previous Saturdays do not indicate what will be in place on October 31.
A RATP notice posted on October 29 announced nighttime security closures on October 30 and 31 from 10 p.m. at République, Châtelet, Les Halles and Châtelet–Les Halles. It was no longer visible during subsequent checks. Its disappearance confirms neither that the closures remain in place nor that they have been canceled. Nor can this measure be attributed to the Bastille–Nation route on the basis of the court’s decision alone.
Closures for works have also been announced independently of the demonstrations: République on line 8 through April 22, 2027, inclusive and Saint-Michel on line 4 through December 19. The bus strike announced for Thursday, October 29, should not be assumed to apply on Saturday.
Updates on stations, connections and bus lines can be found in the RATP traffic bulletins and our overview of public transport in Île-de-France, which distinguishes between works and any security measures.
For those planning to go out on Halloween, the event does not automatically mean that parties or activities will be canceled. Whether they go ahead and the conditions for attending depend on announcements for each individual event.
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