On the 21st of June each year in France and many other French speaking countries every town, village and city celebrates the Fete De La Musique.

This celebration of music has become an enormous event and can take up the entire night. All over France bands play the night away in organised events and in the streets people grab drums, trumpets or any other musical instrument and make their own noise.
People drink, dance and sing. Every bar and street side cafe is packed with people and pulsating with different kinds of music.

In Paris, near Bastille, the atmosphere is especially wild. African, latin and French rhythms are all there and the whole square is a mass of bodies.

If you want to join in I advise sticking away from the formal, organised events. They are more or less just concerts as you might expect on any other night. Get yourself out on the street, meet people you don't know and dance with them. If you know how, bring an instrument and join in with making the music and making the night.

La Fête de la Musique was initiated in 1982 by the French Ministry of Culture. Every year on the twenty-first day of June, France erupts into virtual chaos. People clog the streets, walking around listening to teenage noisepunk bands singing through telephone receivers, trios playing Tunisian folk songs, house DJ's playing out the windows of second floor apartments, and rappers in front of governmental buildings. Every bar and restaurant is overflowing, and all road traffic (including public transportation) is slowed to a crawl.

I was in Grenoble last Friday, as I have been since February, absolutely amazed by a simple walk through the city. I had to walk; the city's busses and tramways were nearly inoperative due to the insane pedestrian traffic.

Be careful if you're ever in France on this night. It's certainly a lot of fun, but remember, it's perfectly legal to carry around a big bottle of cheap wine and take swigs out of it. By the time it's empty, every trash can in the surrounding area will be full , so it will end up on the ground. In a crowd, it will not be seen, and will likely be stepped on. Soyez aware!