‘No sleep, bus, club, another club, another club.’ Anyone who has ever been on TikTok will know they’re the words of Lady Gaga, in an audio clip that has been stitched, shared and liked across the platform. And, after a weekend in Paris for Fête de la Musique (which translates to World Music Day), I feel like I can now relate to the songstress.
I had no idea what to expect from the festival as I hoped on the 7am Eurostar to Gare du Nord from St Pancras International last week. Friends who have been to Fête de la Musique compared it to Notting Hill Carnival in London – both music based events that take over the city streets. However, this French party is much bigger, dominating the entire city – and in fact, much of the country.
I’ve been to Paris multiple times in the past, but never for the festival, so I went to check it out. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser that supports HTML5video The celebration is held every year on summer solstice, June 21, and takes place all over France. While Notting Hill Carnival is rooted in Caribbean traditions, celebrating heritage and contributions of the Afro-Caribbean community, Fête de la Musique focuses on the music culture in France.
Set up by the then minister of culture, it was first celebrated in Paris in 1982 with the goal of bringing people together through music. Ever since, the festival has become an international phenomenon, marked on the same day in more than 700.
