Discover this summer's French Arts Festivals Discover this summer's French Arts Festivals DISCOVER THIS SUMMER’S FRENCH ARTS FESTIVALS
Summer vacation is approaching fast! This year, why not plan your holiday around some of the big cultural events in Europe? France has an abundance of great arts festivals and happenings; we listed some of the most important ones:
Fête de la Musique: June 21
The Fête de la musique (also known as Make Music Day or World Music Day) originated in France in 1982, but is these days celebrated in over 120 countries. The free open-air event brings together both amateur and professional musicians to perform in the streets. In bigger French cities hundreds of concerts may take place simultaneously during the festivities of June 21st.
Festival d’Aix-en-Provence: July 3-22
The Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival devoted mainly to opera, one of the most important of its kind in Europe. Since its foundation in 1948, the heart of the festival has been the atmospheric main stage, the Théâtre de l’Archevêché in the courtyard of the former archibshop’s palace.
Festival d’Avignon: July 6-26
The Avignon Festival was founded in 1947 and has since become one of the most influential festivals dedicated to theater and performing arts. Some 50-60 international shows and the magnificent setting of the medieval city lure more than 50 000 spectators each year to the festival. Alongside the official festival, hundreds of shows are presented in Avignon at the same time of the year and are known as the “OFF d’Avignon”