![]() One story - the more official one - is that French Minister of Culture Jack Lang decided in 1981 to start the yearly event at the behest of his director of music and dance, Maurice Fleuret. There are two conflicting stories about Fête de la Musique’s origin. ![]() Fête de la Musique was conceived as a free, public event And though the celebration seems to embody an idealism that feels almost outdated in 2019, participating is a good way to be convinced that art is for everyone, and that it’s vital to a humanist vision of the world. Outside of France, it’s commonly known as World Music Day or Make Music Day. About three and a half decades after the event started in the early ’80s, more than 120 countries now hold their own Fêtes on June 21. There, I discovered that Fête de la Musique was a great celebration not just of music, but of a community’s potential for organizing its collective resources into something from which everyone could benefit - the public, the musicians, the business, the city, and the country as a whole.Īnd though it started in France, it isn’t just a French celebration anymore. So on June 21, I ventured out into the night. (For the July 14 Bastille Day celebrations, it rolls out the full military strength of France - fighter jets trailing the colors of the French flag, armored tanks, soldiers, and the president of the country - right down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, while everyone cheers decorously and waves little flags.) But no, he said: June 21 is the night of Fête de la Musique (“Festival of Music”) and one of the loveliest citywide celebrations in Paris, a city that does not skimp when it throws a party. ![]() I assumed there was some kind of small-scale block party worth attending in central Paris. The first time I spent the summer in Paris, a friend told me to keep my calendar free on the evening of June 21, the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. ![]()
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