Last night was Fête de la Musique, a free public musical event outdoors all over the city. What a party (fête means party) – there were literally tens of thousands of people roaming about until well into the morning. There were bands and performances on many street corners, including a great jazz group at the bar at the other end of our building. All we had to do was open the window. Launched in 1982 by the French Ministry for culture, the Fête de la Musique is now 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.
Here’s a web site that explains a little about this event.
http://www.fetedelamusique.culture.fr/en/International/presentation/
Unlike perhaps anything we do in the US, the government is deeply involved in organizing this now international social event.
Here are 2 short movies showing typical street performances we saw.
Just after reading your blog, I went out on my deck to look at the Solstice parade exhibitionists,
and six young bare naked young women rode by on bikes laughing. The parade through Fremont
doesn’t specifically focus on music, but the after parade fete at Gasworks Park across the street from us starts at 4:00 pm with bands and beer gardens and will last long after curfew tonight.
We just got back from a reunion with Army buddies from 44 years ago at Jackson Hole.
/Users/robertbolstad/Desktop/Jackson Hole/GFO men with turkeys1.JPG
Dang, you guys are doing such an AWESOME job at keeping the Real World informed of the happenings in the rest of the world.
Thanks so much for all of your efforts in posting your experiences.
I liked the 2nd Video once you took the Video from Vertical to Horizontal viewing.