This year's Worldwide Festival took place on a backdrop of the UK and French elections. In such a divided time, organiser Gilles Peterson talks to Euronews Culture about music's unifying qualities. As the sun sets over the Mediterranean, the seaside amphitheatre stage at Worldwide Festival in Sète, France is drenched in pastel pinks during virtuoso saxophonist Isaiah Collier’s performance of his album ‘Parallel Universe’.
You can’t curate the sky but it’s the perfect visual accompaniment to one of the best curated line-ups around, and that’s all thanks to festival organiser, the renowned DJ and label owner Gilles Peterson. For many Brits, Peterson is best known for his BBC radio show where he introduces regular listeners to an astonishingly diverse catalogue of musicians from around the world and across almost every genre. Since his early days as a pirate radio DJ in the 90s, Peterson has championed new artists and entire genres, from soul legend Amy Winehouse to drum&bass act Roni Size & Reprazent to acid jazz.
Over a week in July, music lovers flock to southern France to witness Peterson’s eclectic taste in the flesh. Euronews Culture was on the scene, getting to the picturesque seaside commune from Montpellier easily thanks to a 30-minute train, booked via . It’s not the only festival he runs, there’s also the popular We Out Here in Dorset, on England's southwest coast for example.
But where We Out Here is a more typical festival with multiple stages al.