If you find yourself anywhere in France on the evening of June 21, your ears will be immersed in music and you might be surprised to hear it everywhere you go, all night long. What better way to spend the longest day of the year than being surrounded by music?
La fête de la Musique turns a city into a music festival, with professional and amateur musicians, music lovers, and people dancing on the streets. June 21st is the only day where music enthusiasts from all backgrounds can indulge their passion on the streets, from their balcony or their windows without the neighbors asking them to stop playing. As loud as they want, they propose concerts of wide-ranging music styles. Everyone loves it, young kids, parents, grandpas, and grandmas participate.
The original Saturnalias (Les Saturnales) of ancient Roman antiquity turned into a music festival thanks to a Franco- American collaboration by Joël Cohen, an American lutenist, and promoted by the Minister of Culture Jack Lang in 1976 Since then, la fête de la Musique takes over the streets of France on the evening of June 21. Thousands of musicians respond to the call to celebrate music and summer; We hear salsa, rock, and musette just to cite a few, and even the neighbor who practices scales on the flute. The street corners that we visit every day are transformed into a living scene bringing together music fans for a night.
A few decades later, this wind of music is spreading like a good hit in more than 400 cities around the world. As Louis Armstrong taught us: "Music is life itself
» and surely you will find life in the streets of France and around the world
on that special day.
