Paris Pride gets cooled off by fire fighters in record-breaking heat
Paris Pride revellers enjoyed water sprayed by fireman to cool them down. (Kiran Ridley/Getty)
The Paris Pride parade was so hot that participants had to be cooled off by fire fighters spraying their hoses over the march.
Along the five and a half kilometre route taken by around half a million people, areas of asphalt on the roads melted in the heat.
The country hit its all-time highest heat record yesterday (June 28) in the small town of Villevieille in the south of France, with temperatures reaching 45.1C.
The march today (June 29), travelled from Montparnasse to Republique, reached temperatures of around 37C.
France hit its all-time highest temperature on the same day as Paris Pride. (Photo by Kiran Ridley/Getty Images)
Those marching didn’t let the heat put them off, as one person said on Twitter: “It’s hellishly hot but the atmosphere is wonderful.”
The heat didn’t put marchers off of enjoying the Paris Pride parade
Paris Pride attendee Nathan Dijoux told NBC after three hours of marching: “Just because it’s really hot, it’s not that I shouldn’t come here. I’m here to show I’m supportive.”
Michael Borunda, who was attending his first Pride in Paris, also told NBC: “I lived in Chicago for five years and heat never stopped anybody; it doesn’t matter how hot it is.”
Officials activated its highest-level heat danger alert in France for the first time, after a heatwave in 2003 killed 15,000 people country-wide.
Paris Pride participants were sprayed with water in record-breaking temperatures. (CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/Getty)
Some on social media were concerned for the safety of those marching in the parade.
One person, who works in a McDonald’s along the Paris Pride parade route, tweeted offering to serve free water to anyone that came in.
Others saw the positive side of the sweltering heat; one attendee wrote on Twitter: “So hot there will be lots of sexy naked men! I may join them!”
