France's Fête de la Musique street party dances to Olympic beat
France's annual musical street party, the Fête de la Musique, will have an Olympic ring to it this year as it highlights the team spirit that unites musicians as well as athletes.
Now celebrated in some 120 countries every 21 June, Fête de la Musique – known in English as Music Day – started in France in 1982. It's an occasion for musicians – professional or amateur – to play outdoors, and for local audiences to listen for free.
This Friday, the event will get a sporting twist to tie in with the Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
On the programme are several groups from the Ministry of Culture's Plan Fanfare, a marching band project that aims to involve young people in reviving local cultural heritage, particularly in rural areas.
Since its creation in 2021, the project has supported more than 900 initiatives across France.
Among them is the BatukaVI ensemble, made up of young people from the working-class Villeneuve district in Grenoble, which is one of several groups joining the party on Friday at the Palais-Royal in Paris.
The troupe specialises in batucada, a genre based on traditional Brazilian percussion and played in street parades.
The Music Day poster, designed by Léopold Roux and Marie Sourd from Atelier AAAAA, also seeks to highlight the links between sport and music.
Read more on RFI English
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