Each year, over 1,000 cities around the world throw citywide music celebrations on June 21. It all started 41 years ago in France. In 1982, France’s Ministry of Culture dreamed up an idea for a new kind of musical holiday. They imagined a day where free, live music would be everywhere: street corners and parks, rooftops and gardens, store fronts and mountaintops. And, unlike a typical music festival, anyone and everyone would be invited to join and play music or host performances. It is called Fête de la Musique. (In French, the name means both “festival of music” and “make music!”).
Four decades later, the holiday has spread throughout the world and is now celebrated in more than 120 countries. In the same way that the French Fête de la Musique celebrates the start of the summer season, this World Music Day extends an invitation to celebrate across the United States and promotes artists of all genres and backgrounds in the process.
This year in Washington, DC, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy - Villa Albertine is partnering with the Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID) in hosting concerts throughout the commercial district of Georgetown – DC’s most historic neighborhood - in addition to La Maison Française. Among French and local musicians, we are pleased to be programming students from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, as cultural partners and neighbors from Georgetown.
Save the date for this year’s edition in Washington D.C.
The Embassy of France will host, in three different stages, a variety of artists, locals and from abroad, that will present music from all genre from 5:00pm until 10:00pm. Join us to enjoy, sing, dance, have a drink, and live the real "Fête de la Musique" as if you were in France!
Stay tuned for the line up of the musical program!
