The Lille brocante is the largest in Europe with nearly 2.5 million visitors attending last year.
However, at a press conference earlier today, Lille’s mayor Martine Aubry announced that the city could not guarantee safety at an event of this scale and that the historic braderie needed to be cancelled.
The annual fair traces its roots back to the Middles Ages and this year was set for September 3 and 4.
It covers more than 100km of stalls and features around 10,000 traders.
Following the recent terrorist attacks in Nice and near Rouen there are concerns that a gathering of this size could attract further aggression.
A post on the braderie’s website reads that though organisers had expected security restrictions for this year's event, they had not known of the cancellation until today.
Aubry said that the decision was one of “moral responsibility.”
The braderie is one of several similar events to occur annually in France including La Grande Foir à tout des Andelys in Normandy (September 12-13) and Grande Braderie du Canal St Martin in Brittany (September 16-17). Both are currently planned to go ahead as scheduled.
