La fête de la Musique

Now please understand, I was hoping to be writing this entry about yesterday’s ‘La fête de la Musique.’ I was thinking that I would be able to tell you how Lyon (and all of France plus 100 or so other countries around the world) was a wall of different sounds celebrating the diversity of music. And that all of this music is free.

I thought I might be able to tell you how I was able to wonder around the town on my way home from work and stumble across different venues and performances. On this street corner there was a group of French rappers, round the corner a blues band was playing outside a restaurant, further up the road a rock band was playing on the terrace of a local bar, in the big places stages had been set up with official running orders of bands and DJ’s covering all types of music – world, classical, choirs, orchestras. Buskers had set themselves up on street corners. The huge brass band (that regularly entertains the weekend shoppers at the Croix Rousse market) was wondering around the streets of Vieux Lyon, creating noise wherever they went. That there was music by the rivers, music on the hills, music in the parks, in fact music everywhere.

I would have loved to have told you about all the enterprising people who had set up makeshift stalls on rickety tables, selling hotdogs, flatbreads and pizzas to the crowds. The bars and pubs who had set up outside beer taps and were selling cold drinks at outrageous prices. It would have been fun to let you know that all the bars were actually empty but the terraces and streets were packed with crowds of people listening to this huge outdoor concert. It would have been great to comment on the variety of people in the crowds, the young, the old, the children, the couples, the families, the grandparents, the groups of friends. I’d loved to have told you that I meet up with my friends and we wondered from place to place and that I saw some friends of mine play in a bar and how great they were. (I have seen them play before and they are great.)

It would have been informative to let you know that la fête de la musique started in France in 1982 and has been going strong ever since. Every city, town and village holds some event to celebrate the day. It is held on June 21st, being the 1st day of summer in the Northern hemisphere. It has gradually caught on internationally and is celebrated in countries as diverse as Vietnam and Namibia. Though some countries move it to the weekend, here in France it is always held on the actual day itself. The first one I celebrated a few years back was on a Saturday, which allowed great fun to be had by all into the early hours. I am also in no doubt that there are the diehard few who celebrate into the early hours every year!

But unfortunately I can’t tell you about any of this because due to the following disasterous combination I didn’t go.
I was on the late shift at work
I was on the silly o’clock, early shift this morning
It was pouring with rain and there were thunderstorms.
The rain didn’t stop everyone and I take my hat off to you if you did brave it out, party till the early hours and go to work this morning! Me, guess I’ll just have to wait another year.