Fête de la musique

On 21st June – this year it fell on the eve of the summer solstice – there is the ‘Fête de la musique’, a celebration of music all across France. 2022 was the 40th anniversary of this music festival, with its principle focus still to create popular, spontaneous local events. It is open to all audiences and promotes musicians and artists of all levels. Their aim is to celebrate, and highlight, the breadth and diversity of all musical practices, as well as all musical genres.

Since its creation by the Ministry of Culture in 1982, small villages to large cities, all across France, have invested in making June 21 a time when everyone can take pride in hosting their own music event. The free concerts have become one of the biggest French, annual cultural events, and they are another example of a wonderful way of bringing communities together.

We went to an event being held in Landreville, the small village next to ours, just a 5 minute drive away. It was extremely well organised. There were a couple of bands playing, one performing recognisable covers from big artists, but we preferred NoXtone, a rock band who seemed to be playing either their own material or tracks less known to us. They played a few sets throughout the evening and were extremely good performers. They got the audience completely engaged with their music.

The Fête de la musique has also grown internationally. It is now a national event in several countries (Luxembourg, Italy, Greece, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia) and has been adopted by some major cities such as New York, Berlin and Mexico City. In 2017, more than 120 countries celebrated this Music Festival.