In France, no one escapes the Fête de la Musique

▲ Every year, France becomes a giant venue for free concerts. Photo: AFP

Latin Press

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, June 22, 2025, p. 5

Paris. A celebratory atmosphere gripped France yesterday at the latest edition of the Fête de la Musique, which transforms the country into a giant venue for free concerts, this year with a special climax.

To close out the day, the Louvre Gardens will host a festival featuring artists from a variety of genres in this capital. This evening will return to the Parisian sky the Olympic balloon that served as a cauldron for the flame during the Olympic Games under the five rings last summer.

The Festival of Music dates back to 1982; it consists of a village celebration in which amateur and professional artists bring their talent to the streets, squares, parks, and iconic sites throughout France.

Children, teenagers, young adults, adults, and seniors—no one escapes the magic of this now traditional French celebration, where imagination and improvisation blend.

In Paris, expectations are also focused on picturesque neighborhoods like the Marais, Montmartre, and Saint-Germain, which have been stormed early on, where the party temperature will rise along with the mercury, on a day when the western part of the country is hit by a heat wave.

The capital's prefecture announced a major police deployment to ensure peace, especially during nighttime entertainment.

Major cities such as Lyon with its old town, Bordeaux, Lille, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Montpellier with their grand squares, Marseille with its Old Port and Nantes with its central streets will be the setting for artistic performances.