Completely different from a music festival, the Fête de la Musique is above all a free popular fête, open to any participant (amateur or professional musicians) who wants to perform in it. This Music day allows the expression of all styles of music in a cheerful atmosphere. It aims at a large audience, working to popularise musical practice for young and not so young people from all social backgrounds.

Musicians are asked to perform for free, and all the concerts are free for the public. It’s the reason why they are used to play in open air areas as streets and parks or in public buildings like museums, train stations, castles… Furthermore, the Fête de la Musique is a way to encourage the major music institutions (orchestra, operas, choirs, etc.) to perform outside their usual locations. This kind of institutions can also welcome other types of music. In this way it offers an opportunity to develop exchanges between city centres and their outlying areas, to offer concerts in hospitals or in prisons, to promote encounters and exchanges between young musicians and well-known talents.

Launched in 1982 by the French Ministry for culture, the Fête de la Musique is held in more than hundred countries in Europe and over the world. It takes place every 21st June, the day of the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere.