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Summer is around the corner! Isn’t very
exciting?
I asked
my friends how we should celebrate the first day of summer on June 21st but
nobody really seemed as excited as I am!
I got the
opportunity to explain to my American friends how the first day of summer is important in
our culture!
In the
French culture, the first night of summer, which is also the shortest night of
the year, rhymes with festivity but more importantly, music! It is called
"Fete de la Musique" (referred as "The World Music
Day").
On
June 21, 1982, the minister of culture invited the people to go out and gather
in the street to play, sing and dance during 30 short minutes from 8.30PM to
9PM. At that time, 1 million people gathered for this first edition.
30
years later, the World Music Day is become a tradition that the majority of French
people attend every year (or at least try to). The principles have not changed;
a big free party, open to everybody, and especially to amateurs, welcoming
without distinction all genres of music.
It
is usually organized in outdoors places; big cities usually close the streets or
build stages in parks, public squares, but you can find performances on
restaurants' terraces… In other words, you just need to wander around the city
and you will definitely end up dancing and celebrating with any person you
would run into!
Today,
more 100 countries celebrate the World Music
Day with one rule: Free Music!
In
the United States, only a few cities participate to this music celebration. In
2007, I have been invited to this event that took place at the French Embassy
of the New York City and included many famous French faces; a year later, a big ball was organized on Times Square.
It is now getting more commonly known as Make Music New York.
Where
will you be on June 21? If you are in a big cosmopolitan city, you should
definitely check on the Internet if anything is happening around the corner of
your street.
Happy
Summer to you all!
Images:
http://www.friendlyrentals.com/blog/en/berlin/events/fete_de_la_musique_berlin-posts-223-2_1770.htm
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