Following the recent decision to strengthen security at the Fetes de Genève, held from August 4th to 14th, the blocks will be set up on several roads around the lakeshore, blocking access to lorries and limiting the speed of other vehicles to 30km per hour.

 

The move comes after the July 14th terror attack in Nice, when a man drove a truck through crowds watching Bastille Day fireworks on the Promenade des Anglais, killing more than 80 people and injuring many more.

 

The use of concrete blocks has previously been used on the occasion of international conferences in Geneva, a police spokeswoman told Le Temps.

 

Police presence will also be stepped up during the festival. 

 

“Not only is the festival area larger than previous editions but it seemed important to us, given the worries of a part of the population, to reinforce police presence in the street,” said the spokeswoman.

 

Security will also be tightened around the festival’s closing fireworks display on August 13th with a new “security corridor” established on the Mont-Blanc bridge.

 

Spectators used to viewing the fireworks from the bridge will this year be directed to other areas, said police.

 

Staged every year for 92 years, Geneva’s annual festival holds music, dance and art events in open spaces around the city’s lakeshores.

 

Its closing fireworks display is one of the biggest in Europe.