Security concerns

Organizers had urged participants to attend in a party mood - but the high security owed much to hundreds of black-clad youths having torched cars and a McDonald's restaurant during traditional May 1 demonstrations in the capital, prompting fears that more "black bloc" protesters could hijack Saturday's event.

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux had expressed fears on Friday that the demonstration could turn violent, hence the high security.

He said the protest's name, the "Fete a Macron", can have a double meaning in French - either celebrating someone, or trying to do them harm.

Some supporters of the left-wing populist La France Insoumise party, or LFI, brandished anti-Macron banners with slogans including "down with the president of the rich", "no to a social coup d'etat" and "for a Sixth Republic".

The protest is the latest in a series of large street demonstrations against Macron, whose overhauls of everything from the education system to the state rail operator have been causing friction with various groups.

It was organized by firebrand LFI lawmaker Francois Ruffin and other ex-members of the Nuit Debout (Up All Night) leftist movement that staged nocturnal rallies across France in 2016.

Ruffin said this week that Macron may have won a democratic election last May but "democracy does not mean shutting up for five years".

Some university faculties remain blocked by protests against Macron's plans to make university access more selective, causing major disruption to students starting their summer exams.

Agence France-presse