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CULTURE

12 festivals to enjoy in France in August 2023

If summer is festival season in France, then August is peak-time festival season. 

Published: 31 July 2023 17:30 CEST
12 festivals to enjoy in France in August 2023
The Rock en Seine music festival takes place in August. (Photo by Anna KURTH / AFP)

Here is our pick of 12 events across the country that you may want to check out.

l’Eté à Pau

This one started at the end of July, but runs until August 5th, so we’re claiming it. If free concerts in an open air theatre are your thing, this is for you. Find out more, here.

Jazz au Phare

Head to the Atlantic coast, until August 3rd for some cool jazz at Saint-Clément-des-Baleines, on Île de Ré. Murray Head is performing on August 2nd. More details available here.

Salon Festival International de Musique de Chambre de Provence

The 31st Festival International de Musique de Chambre de Provence runs until August 5th, in Salon-de-Provence. More information here.

MiMa 

If puppets are your thing, MiMa – the International Festival of Puppet Art, held from August 4th to August 7th in the mediaeval town of Mirepoix, Ariège – is for you. More details here.

Festival du Chant de Marin

Did you love the Wellerman, which took social media by storm a while ago? Then the Sea Shanty festival, in the Breton resort of Paimpol, is for you. This year’s event runs from August 4th to August 6th, with performances from 160 groups on seven stages, while the port is filled with 200 boats. More information here.

Festival Interceltique de Lorient

Sticking in Brittany for a 10-day festival (August 4th to 13th) that pretty much does exactly what it says on the bodhran. More than 100 shows on stages across the Morbihan coastal town celebrate anything and everything Celtic. Artists at this year’s event include Irish folk group Clannad, The Kilkennys, and Usher’s Island. Full details here.

Festival du Bout du Monde

The darkly named End of the World Festival takes place from August 4th to August 6th at Landaoudec Prairie on the Crozon Peninsula in Brittany, a few hundred yards from the wild Atlantic ocean. Franz Ferdinand and Suzanne Vega are among the acts in a packed showcase for a festival that’s nowhere near as gloomy as its name suggests. More here.

Cabaret Vert

Somewhere in the region of 125,000 spectators are expected to descend on the Ardennes’ town of Charleville-Mézières between August 16th and 20th, to catch the likes of The Chemical Brothers, Christine and the Queens, Cypress Hill, Calvin Harris, and – proving the line-up isn’t all C-related – Yungblud, PLK and Dropkick Murphys. More details available here.

Woodstower

Fans of rap and electro rejoice. The 22nd annual Woodstower festival, near Lyon, takes place between August 23rd and 27th. More information here.

Delta Festival

In fact, there’s a little bit of a dilemma for electro fans, as the Delta Festival is in Marseille at exactly the same time as Woodstower, and features an equally eclectic line-up. Details here.

Rock en Seine

If rock’s more your thing, Billie Eilish, Florence + the Machine, The Strokes, Placebo, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are among the acts lined up for this year’s annual Rock en Seine festival at Domaine national de Saint-Cloud from August 23rd to August 27th. Details here.

V and B Fest

Louise Attaque, DJ Snake, Doria, Shaka Ponk and Damso are among a musically wide-ranging list of stars at the V and B Fest in Craon, in the Mayenne. More here.

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LIVING IN FRANCE

5 tips to have the best possible night at France’s Fête de la musique

It can be the most fun day of the year - when France goes music crazy and bands suddenly appear on every street corner - but there are some tips to make your Fête de la musique experience as good as it can possibly be.

Published: 24 June 2024 11:26 CEST
5 tips to have the best possible night at France's Fête de la musique

First, a caveat – this is an entirely personal manifesto based on the things that I have enjoyed over my Fête de la Musique outings over the years. It’s not intended as any kind of hard-and-fast rule and plenty of people will have different experiences.

Feel free to disagree and/or share your festival tips in the comments section below!

1 Ignore the big-name artists

There are always a few big-name artists or concerts in major venues on the Fête de la musique (which happens every year on June 21st).

Ignore them. Sure, stadiums gigs can be great and huge venues can have a wonderful atmosphere – but you can do that any night of the year. It’s not what Fête de la musique is about.

The true spirit of the Fête is the smaller acts who play on street corners, in bars and community venues. They’re free, you can wander between them and stay as long as you like – and there is always something else around the corner.

2 Ignore the big towns

You might think that the big cities have the best music, but if you have the choice, go for a small town or a suburb.

I’ve enjoyed some good Fêtes in Paris, but the best experiences had have been smaller towns or the Paris’ suburbs (Montreuil is good – a commune that carefully cultivates a small-town / village vibe, albeit a very diverse small town where everyone is a hippy, a leftist, or both).

It’s partly a practicality thing – in big cities the acts are spread out and you have to make plans to see something and meet up with friends. In small towns, you just wander along to the main square, then when you’ve seen the acts there, you can saunter up the side streets, each of which will have dozens of bands playing, pausing only to grab a beer and snacks.

But it’s also the vibe; in big cities you can hear good live music all the time and the population is consequently complacent – small towns truly appreciate the Fête de la musique and properly go wild.

Once, in Paris, I was watching a blues band play in the street when a woman tipped water on their heads from her apartment window because she was tired and wanted to go to sleep. Small towns appreciate it when bands play for them.

3 Experiment

There’s a lot of variety on the night, so take advantage – this is your opportunity to hear all kinds of live music from rock to swing, jazz to classical, choirs to DJs.

Didn’t think that a five-piece oud band is your thing? Fête de la musique may change your mind. It’s the night of the year when anything goes, musically, so it’s also the night to try something new.

If you hate it – well it’s free and there’s another band down the street that might be more your thing. But you might discover a lifetime passion for oud music – in fact, by this time next year you might be playing in the oud band. Thanks to the Fête de la musique.

4 Don’t insist on quality

You’ll hear some great bands, but you’ll also hear some that are more about enthusiasm – and that’s all part of the fun.

You’re going to be hearing everything from classic rock to reggae to blues to the above-mentioned five-piece oud band, and as well as the styles the quality may be variable to.

For me, the true spirit of Fête de la musique is the 50-year-old accountant rocking out on his guitar and enjoying the one night of the year when he can dream that if only he hadn’t given up on his high school band, he could now be rich, famous and selling out stadiums, as opposed to filing tax declarations in an office above the florist.

5 Dress comfortably

Some people like to dress up for the Fête and that’s great – it’s a party after all – but the key thing is to wear something that is comfortable and allows you to shake your stuff.

Yes, you will be dancing – you’ll be dancing on street corners, in parks, cafés and perhaps on street furniture if things really get going, and you’ll be dancing with kids, dapper 70-year-old gents and everyone in between.

You need comfortable shoes and clothes that you can really move in.

Dance like no-one is watching. They may be watching, but they won’t be judging. Much. It’s Fête de la musique.

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