The orchestra, which took to the streets to support the protests, did not remain silent even under gas. The songs attracted attention

Student boycotts and mass protests that have been going on for weeks in France have gained a new dimension with an orchestra concert rising under gas clouds in République Square, one of the most well-known spots in the capital Paris.

Orchester du Nouveau Monde (New World Orchestra), founded by approximately 400 activist musicians, organized an open-air concert with the permission of the governor on October 17, 2026, in support of students.

Before the event started, tension escalated in the square when the police intervened in the area with pepper gas and sound bombs.

The musicians, who had tears in their eyes and had difficulty breathing, did not give up their instruments despite the intervention and continued to play for about 20 minutes until the conditions became completely impossible.

The musicians' moments under the gas cloud reached a large global audience through videos shared by Brut and international news agencies.

The repertoire in the square consisted of symbolic works that directly brought together popular culture and the history of political resistance.

The orchestra played the 53-year-old anthem "El pueblo unido jamás será vencido" (No Force Can Defeat an Organized People), composed by Chilean composer Sergio Ortega and the Quilapayún group in 1973 in support of the government of Salvador Allende.

The fact that the band, which went into exile after the coup, recorded this anthem in Paris, added a historical dimension to the performance in the square.

While the musicians sang the classic resistance anthem as well as the revolutionary song "The Hanging Tree" from the Hunger Games series, hundreds of students sang along to the song in unison.

In order to keep the morale of the young activists high and draw attention, the Star Wars "Imperial March", the Avengers movie soundtrack and the song "They Don't Care About Us", composed by Michael Jackson against police oppression, were also played.

As education boycotts continued in the streets, the movement made its spokespeople and prominent figures visible.

Elwan Benoit, a 17-year-old senior student at Jacques-Decour High School in Paris, became one of the prominent names on social media after the interviews he gave during school boycotts.

Elwan Beonit, whose videos shared on TikTok and

The young spokesperson's meeting with Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the Unyielding France (LFI) party was also among the topics discussed in public.

Saint-Denis Mayor Bally Bagayoko, one of the politicians who supported the movement, became another iconic name of the protests.

Bagayoko, a member of the Unyielding France (LFI) party, which governs the immigrant-dominated suburb of Paris, entered the police cordon and high school students with the French flag in his hand during the demonstrations on October 6, 2026.

"Stop!" to the police. The moments when Bagayoko was exposed to pepper spray while calling out, and saline was sprayed into her eyes, were covered in the publications of international media organizations such as CNN, The Guardian and El Mundo.

The Paris Police Chief filed a criminal complaint against the mayor for allegedly provoking the events.

Criticizing the government's interventions, Bagayoko calls on President Emmanuel Macron to apologize to the students' families, stating that the harsh police interventions will endanger the lives of children.